Wild Sand
by Naquiel
Summary: A Yu-gi-oh / Ranma crossover fic, inspired by Hung Hyguyens fanfics, also my best fanfic. Please enjoy this (*hack,* Liar *cough*) humble fanfiction. If you don't I will visit you in your dreams making bad jokes!
1. Prologue

Wild Sand Prologue  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 0  
  
Ranma was on the roof of the Tendo Dojo, thinking and crying. His feelings of masculinity, beaten into him for the last twelve years, were erased under the deep tide of pain and sadness. His mother, Nodaka, the one person he actually cared about, was dying. Earlier that evening she came around with Pops and told him in front of the Tendo family. He didn't cry, even if he was in his cursed form of a girl, but he did run and that, to him was almost as bad. She found him in his room and told him what was wrong while she held him in a hug, both struggling not to cry. She had a tumour, a malignant one, settled next to her heart. The doctors gave her six months, and he found later, they had said that there was an operation she could have to remove it, but the process was so tricky and experimental that it would be both risky and expensive. Nodaka simply didn't have the money and although she tried to put on a brave face and only said this indirectly Ranma had known that she was tearing up inside.  
She wasn't a perfect mum, she had made many grievous errors, she had her faults and her good points, and for all of them, he loved her.  
Now the tears had dried up, he could think clearly. Her mother was dying, fact; Magic existed, fact; therefore magic could be used to heal her! But what magic? Jusenkyo? A pool of drowned healthy woman used in conjunction with the Musk's curse-locking Ladle. No. Herb had no reason to help Ranma or him mother, if he did there would be a truckload of conditions. Ranma shuddered thinking what those conditions might be. He would never allow his mother to undergo what Herb and his people's way of life would demand of her! Cologne, no the same thing would apply and she had tricked him too much in the past to be trusted.  
He had to face reality, his mother was dying, she had a limited time, so he would try to make what life she had left, better! He had a little money stored away from prying eyes (and hands,) he would use that cash to get his mother a nice gift and work from there.  
The day after, Ranma was walking in the market place, full of hustle and bustle. He had already looked at a lot of beautiful things to get his mother, during the Saturday morning, but they just didn't feel Right! He stepped up to a deserted stall at the corner of the market place.   
It had jade and gold brooches and pretty jewellery that he knew his mother would love, but what caught his eye was a gold box, roughly the size of a shoe box, with an interesting eye-like emblem. Its lid was off and to one side, so customers, like Ranma, could see inside at what appeared to be a jumbled collection of large shrapnel. He began to look at the other items on display, rings and chained necklaces, but his eyes were drawn occasionally to the box and its contents. After ten minutes of this he let out a sharp breath and asked the man, "See that box, why does it have a big load of junk in it?"  
The man smiled mysteriously, "Because, honoured sir, it is not 'junk'. The pieces are pieces to a great ancient puzzle that came from Egypt. Legend say that the completed puzzle had great power and a terrible accursed evil force was bound by it!"  
Ranma heard all the man said but ignored the 'legend;' most likely the man was just trying to impress.   
Besides he had developed a slight sense for malicious magic because of his time in the Nerima district of Tokyo and the cursed valley of Jusenkyo, and he sensed no such power within the pieces!  
"How much?" asked Ranma  
"What for, honourable customer?"  
Ranma thought for a moment and answered, "The box and, um, what would you recommend to give to a mother who is terminally ill?"  
"I am sorry for your mothers pain, honourable customer." he picked up a bracelet made with two bands of solid gold at either end with a basket-weave of silver and copper wire with little eastern charms set in the weave. "I would suggest this, sir. I will give you this and the box for one hundred yen!"  
Ranma raised an eyebrow, "Only that, they look as if they would cost more!"  
The man smiled sympathetically, "My own mother died very suddenly, I bought this for her before she past away. Just consider this my way of helping a person in the same dilemma that I was in."  
Ranma didn't fully understand but thanked the man profusely after handing him the money. Then he walked away after saying goodbye to the kindly merchant.  
  
Later that night Ranma was on his futon, trying to get to asleep, but something or someone was keeping him awake. Finally Ranma was tired of being tired. He felt as if his head was going to explode. He went downstairs, in the darkness as unconsciously silent as a shadow.   
When he came back with a drink of milk he took out the golden box from his wardrobe, or rather under a few loose floorboards underneath it. The small space was also the present home for the bracelet.   
He sat cross-legged on his futon and opened the lid. He took out the pieces and put the on his futon's blanket, he put the box top one side and scrutinised the pieces.   
He picked one up and saw that it had a very slight groove running through it and that groove had a little upwards flick in it. He examined the others and found one with an identical groove with a little flick.   
When he touched the grooved sides together they fused with a tiny sparkle of blue light, this didn't go unnoticed by Ranma who continued to examine them with disturbingly un-Ranma-like enthusiasm.  
Ranma continued to use these little imperfections to fuse many of them, narrowing down their number from thirty, to seventeen, but then there were no more imperfections to guide him. It was then that Ranma felt IT, a instinct/voice ancient and powerful guiding his actions.   
One by one the seventeen pieces were fused together into a pyramidal shape with only one piece left. Ranma held both parts in his hands, the pyramid with a half-submerged ring emerging from the square base and the front face, decorated with a eye emblem, like the one on the box. The voice disappeared leaving in its wake a slight confusion within Ranma who stared at the two segments. Somehow he knew he was being given a choice, he choose 'yes!' and brought the two segments together with finality!  
  
He was floating in a sea of every colour. Ranma opened his eyes and saw the same as if they were closed: a sea of liquid light, emotions and thoughts given dream-form.  
"Ranma," a whisper came from behind him, urgent and it's force making the sea churn in retaliation.  
Ranma was anything but not curious so he turned around and the sea disappeared, before him was a different sight. There was a sea of sand that went beyond the horizon, he was on a long road that resembled the greatwall of China, it was straight and hard to tell the distance of.   
It ended at a giant pyramid with the same eye emblem on the puzzle, no, scrap that, it was the puzzle but blown up to incredible proportions. The sun was behind it, shining a corona of light around the pyramid, yet despite that there were no shadows in this desert place!  
"Ranma," said the figure that appeared in front of him, suddenly and without warning but not incurring a blink from dream-Ranma. "No, this isn't a dream," said the figure reading Ranma's mind. "Although this isn't reality, either. Think of this as an astral reality that comes into being when the puzzle in united and simultaneously, the puzzle becomes a conduit for that persons soul to coexist between actual existence and this astral realm."  
Ranma replied, "Huh?"  
The figure sighed exasperatedly and said, "Just think of it as a dream!" he sighed once more to relieve the pressure from his 'hurting' head. He had thought the one to bring the puzzle pieces together would be smart, but this boy was a dumb as you please. The figure however looked at Ranma again and re-evaluated his decision, not stupid but ignorant, actually he was quite smart, a genius even, but most of that potential was unused. If his mystic senses could tell him anything about Ranma, it was that!  
"Um, who are you?" asked Ranma.  
The figure bowed and became clearer to distinguish, The eyes were particularly clear and the mirror image of Ranma. That wasn't all. Gradually the figures entire body became crystal clear and sharp, and Ranma found himself looking at himself.  
Well, not exactly. The figure was Ranma but he wore a 'skirt' of white linen that nearly reached the ground, it was folded with perfectly straight creases. Beneath that, he wore a pair of sandals, however above his 'skirt' and stomach, his chest was covered with a blue and gold semi-circular helm-like thing and finally his neck and head raised through the neck-hole of the gold and blue ornamentation. His hair was non-existent except for a long curtain-like fringe and a ponytail. He wore a gold cornet with a sacred snake rising from it and he had the trademark facial decoration of the Egyptians around his eyes particularly the triangle-like shape painted at the corner in blue and gold. "My name is Yami."  
"Um, how are you me or um, ah, look like me?" said Ranma uncertainly.  
Yami smiled a bit sadly. "I shall explain. Long ago, during the times of Ancient Egypt, the pharaohs played a game that was almost exactly like what people call Duel Monsters today. However it was played with real monster and powerful magic. The magic was so strong that it threatened to destroy the world. These games were played in a place of power, dreams and nightmares known to all as the Shadow Realm. These were the Shadow Games.   
"The Shadow Ralm is a place where, well, it's more a state than a place, where all powers, magic, energies, matter, is trancended, a sort of ultimate magical power, quite beyond the imagination. The power of the Shadow Realm that goes to a mage is comparitive to their spiritual resonation with the Shadow Realm. In some cases, priests collected souls and used those souls and their own to in crease the amount of power they can access.  
"However, despite this enormous power, or perhaps because of it, in order to protect the world and the rest of existence, I sealed away the power of the Shadow Games in seven millennium items."  
Ranma took this in and asked a question, "Why you? I mean surely there were others that could seal the Games away?"  
Yami blinked at the question, "Your taking all of this very well!"  
"Yeah, well my life is allot like this. This is nothing compared to Jusenkyo, really magic mushrooms, the Wishbringer Sword, the Dragon's Whisker, the Mark of the God, etc. To me this is nothing."  
"Ah, well to answer your question. My father was the Pharaoh and I grew up to become what I am, a Pharaoh Mage, just like all Pharaohs before me, merely I had the advantage of the Shadow Games and the Shadow Realm magic being in common use at the time of my youth. The reason I had to be the one was that, I was the High Shade Mage, the best duellist and Shadow Mage in the Kingdom. The reason I died was a pack of Shadow Mages who were trying to let the Shadow Games consume the world, believing they would gain power instead of torture and oblivion! Even though I died, I completed the Millennium Items in time and sealed the Shadow Realm with those Seven Keys. There was a result however, the Millennium Items each 'uploaded' a soul into them. I went into the Millennium Puzzle and others went into the other Millennium Items.  
"Ranma, there is one other, very important thing, when I died a part of me was reincarnated and only my reincarnation could have resonated with the Millennium Puzzles pieces, before I began to help the resonation!"  
Ranma stared at Yami, "That would mean, I am your reincarnation, but what would that mean exactly and why am I here anyway?"  
Yami laughed and scratched the base of his ponytail absently, just like Ranma does when he is nervous! "Well, first, the resonation is the cause of your abnormally highly chaotic life. The curses, the magics that have crossed your way at some point or another: has been attracted by the power of you Shaow Realm resonation. Well, your being here, I guess that's my fault. You are here because the other Millennium Items are awakening or have already awakened."  
"Welll, can't you be more specif, uh, clearer?"  
"No, the bond the items share is weak because not all are awake, all I can tell you is at least one is still asleep and at least one is awake or beginning to rouse. You see the souls that were uploaded into the items, they can possess or fuse with the user/wearer. Possession if there is no common strong moral or spiritual trait or bond or Fusion if there is at least one strong common moral or spiritual trait or bond, with Possession going both ways, the host-soul and the Item's soul. However not all are awake, even if the item itself is, there is no guarantee that the soul contained within is. Even if both souls are good people, the dark energies contained within the Millennium Items could corrupt them. The users/wearers also have a strong compulsion to gather the items in one place under one person."  
"Why?"  
"Well, inside the Millennium Items there is a warping of space and time, a portal to the Shadow Realm. With this a user of one Item can take things of a certain mass limitation and shunt them into the Shadow Realm where the Items are at their strongest, they can also reverse the process, you can do it now that you are the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle.   
"When these items come together their collective portals would create a rip in space where all the power of the Shadow Realm can escape from. The power first goes to the person who unites the items. They would become a god, the Items becoming one with him or her, with that power they can close the rip while retaining their power through the portals of the Millennium Items which would, by then, be existing within the new-god. But they could keep the rip open to consume the world and eventually beyond!"  
"So what does that mean for me?"  
"Well, we can fuse as we both have a strong spiritual bond and we share many moral similarities. If we were to unite the Items and become their ultimate guardian-god we can seal out all of the influences and powers of the Shadow Realm and together, along with the power of the god-hood, we can nullify your curse."  
"What do you mean exactly by 'we'."  
"Well if there is enough in the way of similarities, one or two morally common traits, the temporary fusion occurs, but when there is the amount of morally common traits that we have, the fusion would be permanent. Oh and in case your wondering, the negative influences of the Millennium Items won't effect you due to the filter that I have been creating ever since I went in the damn thing. I am very proud of it. It would even work if we fuse and get all of the items and the god-hood that would follow."  
"I don't feel comfortable with that god-hood thing couldn't we just give it back and put the Items in the Shadow Realm?"  
"Well, yeah, but only after we do the permanent merge. Don't want to make promises we'll regret later!" shrugged Yami. "Ready?"  
"Ready as I'll ever be?"  
"Great, let's do..."  
"Wait.... Now I'm ready."  
And then, they woke up. 


	2. Wild Sand Chapter 1

Wild Sand chapter 1  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 1  
  
Ranma was on his futon, his legs still crossed, but he was laying on the futon with his back and the floor with his head, the Puzzle in his hands. His eyes were open and his mind alive as he processes all of Yami's memories and personality, assimilating all spiritual data and incorporating it with his own. It became clear, to him, the apparent strengths and weaknesses of his two personalities, Ranma had greater control over his martial techniques and experience with modern society and lifestyles where as Yami had the magical skill, social knowledge and skill. A similar thing was evident with their powers, Ranma's Chi skills and large aura, and Yugi's Sa, the power of the Shadow Realm, and his powerful mystic corona. The person who looked out of Ranma's eyes and thought with his mind, wasn't Ranma and he wasn't Yami, he was both, yet neither. Where Ranma was arrogant, his fusion had pure confidence, where Yami was short-tempered, his fusion had a decent patience, but a horrible temper when his patience reached its end. Ultimately he was a completely different person.  
Perhaps I will keep the name Ranma, thought the fused entity; after all I am living his/my life. He checked his mind to sort out what had happened and found that it still hurt when he thought about his Mother, and yet he was reassured that his emotions hadn't changed.  
Ranma spent the night thinking things over until he got fed up and went to the Dojo.  
Ranma started a kata before he even got there, dancing amongst the stone paths and Koi pond. He went through thirty katas in seconds, a task that few other martial artists could hope to do at his age. During that morning he learnt how much his martial artistry had improved, not a bit. All in all, it was fine and dandy to Ranma, he couldn't trust things that weren't gained through sweat and blood. He was glad for something, Yami's magic would take sometime to manifest and a while of training to bring to the surface.  
  
"Hey, Sis," asked Nabiki, tiredly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen, her sister's domain. "What's that noise coming from the Dojo?" The noise she was referring to be the occasional cracking noises and sonic booms that could be heard in the kitchen.  
Kasumi's ever-cheerful smile answered, "Ranma's training."  
Nabiki looked at her sister and frowned, "How long?"  
"Since before I got up," smiled Kasumi.   
Abruptly the noises stopped and after being heralded by the rapid sound of footfalls, Ranma emerged from the back door. Ranma had a smile on his face, a sweat-sodden shirt in his right-hand, wearing a spare, clean shirt and he held his pigtail in his left. He wore a golden downward-pointing pyramid pendant 8cm tall, hanging by some string. The girls were shocked to see it. Ranma and jewelry just didn't go well together. And, yet, here Ranma was wearing a rather large piece of jewelry.  
"Thanks Kas-chan. Oh, I've already had breakfast and if anyone needs me I'll be in the Dojo!"  
He bounced out the door on his way to the Dojo, soon the sound of battered concrete crumbling could be heard.  
It was then that Nabiki and Kasumi had the same, unprovoked, thought, 'I wish Daddy didn't engage him to Akane. No good will-come from it.' Then again, they were the ones that gave him to Akane something that at that moment they regretted, especially with the knowledge of what had occurred, since the engagement came to light.  
  
Ranma walked down a street filled with clothes stores. He was alone but for a handful of people shopping or passing through. He made a beeline to his favorite clothes shop, one that had the largest array of Chinese silk clothes in the whole district of Nerima, if not all of Tokyo.  
He entered the shop. It was filled with racks that displayed the various silk clothes, and all the furniture, even the walls, were either wooden, or had wooden panels. Ranma liked this shop so much, not because of the prices or the large selection, but because of the kindly old gentleman that ran the clothes store.  
"Ah, Ranma, good to see you again!" stated a nearby rack of clothes, just before an aged man walked from behind it.  
Ranma was too used to the old man's antics to be phased by them, "Nice to see ya Gramps! Got any good silk shirts and pants?"  
"Oh, so you don't want to talk to this old man. It's just 'silk shirts' this, and 'silk pants' that." He said sorrowfully.  
Ranma laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck with his right hand. "Okay, ya wanna talk, alright!"  
"Wooo. Now give me all the gossip," ordered the old man cheerfully.  
Ranma sweat-dropped at the old man. For some reason the friendly old man was a real gossipmonger! Probably because he was so old!  
  
Two hours of two-way gossip later, Ranma came out of the store with a carrier bag full of silk clothes. Two sets of his usual clothes and one set for special occasions. The formal wear was a black pair of pants with a silver Eastern Dragon curling around the right leg, the shirt was also black with a silver Eastern Dragon coiled around his chest, the head coiling around the right arm.  
Ranma did a high kick for no apparent reason, the same moment an annoying kendoist ran towards him with a brokken. Kuno just suddenly, flew backwards and into unconsciousness.   
A second distortion in the air was caused by another, weaker high kick, causing a wave of condensed air to strike the boy, with enough force to render him unconscious for a few more hours than the initial one.  
"That idiot will just not learn! Neither will Royoga or Mousse, but at least they're a challenge," He continued muttering darkly about idiots and weaklings as he walked the Dojo.  
  
Later that day, the hall telephone rang, and Kasumi went to answer it. She came back into the kitchen with the wireless handset and from there, she walked out to the Dojo, where Ranma had gone into shortly after coming home, muttering to himself. When she got to the Dojo she was amazed to see what she saw. Ranma was sitting cross-legged in the center of the Dojo with his cerulean aura burning around him, he shot out his hands from his sides at time, causing a small sonic boom and with air pressure chopped a brick of concrete in half, 10 meters away.  
She called to him and his aura dissipated.  
"Phone call, Ranma."  
"Who is it," asked Ranma not moving from his position, thinking about his unarmed revision of Kuno's techniques.  
"It's you mother!" Kasumi nearly jumped out her skin as suddenly Ranma was next to her, gently taking the phone, put it to his ear and mouthing a thank-you.  
Kasumi turned and walked back to her kitchen, her mind on what could be made for dinner.  
"Yeah, Mom," said Ranma worriedly thinking, 'what if she's needing medical attention', etc.  
"Son, I'd like to see you, please come to my home!" said Nodaka from the other side of the line.  
"Mom. Is something wrong?" asked Ranma.  
"No, dear. Why, should there be?" asked Nodaka curiously.  
"Okay then, I'll come now!"  
  
An hour later Ranma is sitting in his mother's living room, finishing off his tea when his mother began to explain why she called him.  
"Well, son. After your father and yourself went on your training trip, I became bored. I tried getting part-time jobs, but they made me depressed. I tried stamp collecting, but I just didn't take to it, then I discovered Duel Monsters, this wonderful card game. You see an old friend of mine runs a Duel Monster store, with some other card games included, but mainly Duel Monsters. I went to visit her at her shop and I was amazed at how wonderful Duel Monsters were, particularly after I was a spectator at a match. So I arranged for a starter pack and a few boosters and my friend offered me this discount, on the condition that I help her every Easter, her busiest time of the year.   
"I was in a win-win situation, an activity involving something I was interested in and allowed to evolve my hobby further. I have amassed an awfully powerful deck and well, I found that Duel Monsters are quite popular at your school at the moment and I would like you to have them, after all I won't have a use for them soon." Nodaka gazed in the reflective surface of her tea, seeing her own face and the ceiling, both warped, for some reason it seemed ironic!  
She was surprised when she felt strong fingers take her cup and embrace her. Ranma didn't say anything just held his mother as she began sobbing. As she wept, Ranma felt a single droplet run down his face.  
"Thanks, Mom. I'll make you proud." he choked out.  
"I guess I'll need to teach you, dear son." Chuckled Nodaka, wiping her tears away daintily with a cotton handkerchief.  
"Um, not really I already know a bit about Duel Monsters, ah, from school." Replied Ranma hesitatingly.  
"Oh, well. Can't have everything. Son, let me show you some of my cards, well," she smiled, "Your cards, now."   
They sat, side by side and Nodaka showed Ranma some of her, now his best cards.  
She held up two cards with odd magic-eye patterns on the back, the kind you need to get your eyes just right to see. "You, now, have in your possession one of the four existing Blue Eyes White Dragons and one of the nine existing Red Eyes Black Dragons. In fact a little birdie told me that the four Blue Eyes White Dragons when brought together and aligned in a certain way would create a God card, but only if in conjunction with a fifth unknown card and a Polyerisation magic card."  
"Really, Mum! What is it? Is it true?"  
"Oh, Kami-sama himself probably knows but we mere mortals, don't have a clue!" she laughed, "In fact there is a similar rumor about the Red Eye Black Dragon, quite ridiculous really." Said Nodaka thoughtfully.  
"What rumor?"  
"It's really quite impossible, ridiculous and impractical, but, if you want. The story goes like this. Um... you do know about the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon? Three Blue Eyes White Dragons fused together."  
"Yeah," replied Ranma, his curiosity growing.  
"Well the story is to bring all nine Red Eyes together and to fuse them into three Red Eyes Ultimate Dragons, and apparently after fusing them into the ultimate state, to fuse the ultimate dragons into one dragon. A god dragon of all things, similar to the Blue Eyes White Dragons rumored 'supreme' form. Quite ridiculous, nine cards can't fuse together no matter what steps you take, only five monsters can be placed on the field."  
Ranma frowned and thought to himself, this is new, I knew of no fourth or fifth god card, fusion's or otherwise! This will bear further looking into!  
"Oh, and finally," stated his mother as she drew another card from the still tall deck, "The Head of Exodia. Exodia is made of five pieces, once assembled he destroys all enemy monsters and you automatically win. However Exodia's pieces are unique, with only one copy worldwide, and it is exceptionally hard to assemble them all. The pieces can also be played as monsters, the head at 1000/1000 and the limbs at 300/400. Don't forget that you now have a great deal more cards than just the ones I have shown you."  
"It's a great deck, Mom. How did you get such powerful cards?" asked Ranma.  
"Well, it was mostly luck and gut instinct, really. I am really quite proud of it. Well, Taka gave me a box, that I would choose, out of her inventory, you see, and I would pick two or just one booster pack from each. Every time I did it I went with just a feeling I had, it's done quite well for me."  
"Well, Mom, you have..."  
"You. You, have. I have just given them to you!"  
"Yeah, well, um. I have one piece of Exodia and One each of two of the rarest dragon cards there are, along with a God card. Well, as good as this is, I think I'll do my best to get all the rarest cards!"  
"That's my Son," laughed Nodaka as she hugged her son, her face beaming at his enthusiasm.  
Besides, Ranma thought, Ill need these to get to the other Millenium Items.  
  
Ranma was in his room with a map, his new deck, and his Millenium Puzzle on his futon. He had the end of the Puzzles string in one hand and the Blue Eyes White Dragon card in the other. The puzzle was waving its' point around the top of the map, with Ranma observing closely.   
So, my senses are right, there are three other Blue Eyes Whites Dragons about in Nerima, pity however that my powers haven't emerged enough to pinpoint them. From what Mother mentioned, there are only three other Blue Eyes White Dragon. Mother also mentioned there was a secret to them all being together: something about if the cards are all together, face down and in a certain pattern, their backs show data for a new Dragon, a god type. But could only be seen and activated by a fifth unknown card and a Polyerisation magic card.   
Apparently only a select few were privy to that knowledge, Ranma felt honored and sleepy.  
Ranma was awoken by a wave of cold water. He, now she, groaned as she heard the screech of, "Wake up, you Pervert!"  
His bleary eyes opened to look at her sometimes-cute-most-of-the-time-evilly-twisted face and muttered something about her being a tomboy. She was already out the room, so thankfully, Ranma wasn't to be malleted, for now.  
  
Ranma walked along the Canal wall, with Akane fuming down on the pavement, scowling at the reminder of how much better Ranma was as a Martial Artist. Soon the reached the gates of the school where Akane proceeded to beat up the mob of boys that had reformed recently.  
Akane was in a sea of groaning, moaning forms in short time. A single boy came from behind a tree and started talking in Shakespeare's-turning-in-his-grave literature.  
"Truly are a boorish lot," stated the boy with his brokken unsheathed. "Akane Tendo, I would date with thee." He charged and prepared to fight his beloved tigress, until he found a fist in his gut, forcing him back thirteen meters.  
"Hiya, Kuno," smiled Ranma at the red-faced boy. "I thought it was you who started this up again."   
The boy, got up and prepared his kendo stance to defeat the foul sorcerer, after all the incident outside the clothes shops was mere dark magic. Nothing can stand against his righteous wrath. Yeah, right!  
"Hey Kuno," smiled Ranma 'The foul sorcerer' Saotome, "I have just made up this technique, that I just have to try out. Since Royoga isn't about, you'll have to do."  
Ranma took a side-ways stance with his stretched arm, with his palm facing Kuno. "Let me introduce you to Beta-ha-fu Inferuno!" (Better Half of an Inferno) A sheet of flame exploded from under Kuno and above him, pining him and scorching him in heat and flame, at the same time, Ranma released a rain of chi spheres at his opponent. The spheres didn't hit Kuno, but missed him, instead started to circle him, a stream of red dust, the next second the fire and chi turned into a tornado, akin to a miniature, Amazon patented, Dragon Ascension Blast. All this took a second and a half, the tornado last two more seconds. This was the technique at it's weakest, proved by the face that Kuno was still standing.  
"Ha, the evil Sorcerer's magic fail in the face of a noble hear..." he swooned from dehydration and Ranma was already walking into the school.  
  
Nabiki looked from her window, her slaves... Uh, her colleagues clustered around her, or taking bets and reporting losses and profits. She noticed the unusual way in which Ranma dealt with Kuno. Normally, Ranma punted Kuno into lower Earth orbit, but today he took the trouble to utilize a chi technique, one like she had never seen.  
She nearly purred when she thought about how many people would like to know of Ranma's new technique, as a warning and as something else, it didn't matter to her, just as long as she got paid.  
  
No one bothered Ranma for the rest of the day until lunch when Akane sat next to him.  
"Why'd you do that to him?" she spat.  
"Why, are you admitting you like Kuno?" said Ranma snidely, his Yami side really fed-up of what Ranma had to deal with, a lot of it originating from this girl. This how- ever was him, allowing his anger to be vented towards Akane, to get rid of her. It didn't work.  
"No, it was my fight. You shouldn't have interfered!"  
"Look, after what I did to Kuno you'll be free of him for a few days, and the boys that follow Kuno have a little food for thought, so you'll be free of them at least for today and tomorrow. Now go away, I was enjoying my food!"  
Akane was too angry to do anything but comply, a succulent rarity.  
  
At the end of the day, Ranma was walking home alone Akane giving him the cold shoulder, which was fine for Ranma. Whatever love for Akane that may have existed was eroded away by the malletings, the insults, long before the fusion of Ranma and Yami.  
He was thinking of what Hiroshi and Daisuke were talking about earlier:  
'"Hey Ranma, man." laughed Hiroshi, "Daisuke is killing my monsters here!"  
They were in the Cafeteria close to a large tree on the edge of the grounds; the benches were old haunts for Duelists.  
Ranma came over and observed Daisuke and Hiroshi's Duel Monsters Game. They talked away amicably throughout, laughing at jokes and moaning dramatically when they lost a monster or a card. He sat next to them and observed their play. Hiroshi was basing his attacks on fire-type monsters and boosts, while Daisuke was basing his on wind-type monsters and traps. It came down to two cards, both of their life-points at two hundred. Hiroshi played The Flame-Swordsman (1800/1600) while Daisuke played his Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress (1400/1200) both in defense mode.   
Daisuke equalized his Dragon with the Swordsman with a magic card, called Scales of Power which brought both cards to (1600/1400) and also placed down Spellbinding Circle to protect the dragon by trapping the Flame-Swordsman if he attacked.  
Hiroshi used Salamandra to boost his Flame-Swordsman to (2100/1900) and also used his Harpies Feather Duster to destroy all trap and magic cards on his opponent's side.   
Daisuke placed a magic card face down on the boards.  
He then used a card called Best Things in Life are Free.  
The card made it so that even in defense mode if the opponents monster is destroyed, there is still a toll on the life points, however, the players own monster [1 monster only] is immune for same three turns from any toll on the life points.  
Hiroshi used Chaos Shield to protect his monster and ended his turn by placing a trap card, No Defense.  
Daisuke turned over his hidden card, De-spell and placed a card called Horn of Heaven. De-spell negated Hiroshi's defenses and Horn of Heaven sacrificed his Winged Dragon to kill 1 enemy monster. Therefore Daisuke won by a whisker, not losing his 200 points due to the effects of the Best Things in Life are Free magic card.  
Daisuke did a small jig in his seat and gathered his cards. Hiroshi did the same, minus the jig, not in the least annoyed that he lost a game. "So Ranma, we hear tales that you are now a duelist!"  
Ranma frowned and opened his mouth to ask, but it was so obvious, Nabiki, the mercenary information gatherer and blackmailer. He shook his head; he would have to deal with her. "Yeah, I am now!"  
"Cool, wanna duel?"  
Ranma smirked innocently, "Me with a great champion duelist like yourself? Sure"  
Daisuke blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I am good!"  
  
Soon both of them were in position, Ranma swapping seats with Hiroshi.  
Ranma started with a defensive strategy that his mother taught him. Multiply, and in defense.  
Daisuke used his Winged Dragon and attacked, destroying Ranma's monster, or so he thought. When Ranma didn't take the monster card of it's place, Daisuke looked at him questioningly.  
"Don't you know that any monster with attack power less than 500 hundred can be multiplied by the multiply magic card? Daisuke, you destroyed only one of my multiplied Basic Insects, not all of them. This is a powerful defense, learn it.   
"You see," He chatted as he drew two more cards from his deck, "With my Basic Insect being multiplied many times, and in defense mode. No matter how many you destroy, I won't lose any points and through out I can utilize a specific strategy that uses this to my advantage." He put down another card, in front of the wide-eyed Daisuke, Chaos Shield. "For example by combining Multiply and Chaos Shield, my field has now become an impenetrable wall, separating itself from your field."  
Daisuke thought, huh, Ranma's crap at card games, how is he so good all of a sudden! Daisuke brought his attention to the game and saw that the Chaos shield provided a protection to the Basic Insects and another card was placed down by Ranma, Spell-binding circle. That meant Daisuke couldn't attack him or his shield with monsters or magic, therefore he would focus on setting traps.  
Ranma looked at the determined face of Daisuke as he choose his next card Dragon Nails to enhance his Winged Dragon (1800/1600), and a trap card, Roaring Tide, a deflector of water and wind attacks.  
Ranma plucked two cards from his hand that he put down, facedown, Magical Ghost (1300/1400) and The Sword of Dark Destruction, which raised the Magical Ghost's power to 1700/1600.  
Daisuke enhanced his dragon further by using Invigoration and laying another monster card Curse of Dragon.  
Ranma put down the King of Ghost, which brought up his zombie-type Magical Ghost by 200 attack points every turn. Magical Ghost: 1900/1600.   
Daisuke continued to boost up his Winged Dragon, and then polymerized Winged Dragon (2400/2000) with Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) to create Accursed Dragon (2800/2500). Daisuke smiled, Ranma couldn't possibly defeat his combo! Then he saw Ranma smile.  
Ranma knew his presently played monsters weren't strong enough to defeat this new monster, even with his Magical Ghost now at 2100/1600, however he had a plan. He put down Dark Magician (2500/2100) and used polymerization to fuse Magical Ghost and Dark Magician along with the giant pumpkin, King of Ghost, to create Dark King Ghost (3000/2800).  
Ranma learnt however all that would achieve was making a superb victory, not the close call that he thought, as he drew Harpies Feather Duster and placed it face-up, decimating Daisuke. The traps present were destroyed, along with a few magic cards that were face down, waiting to be played. Ranma them put his Chaos Shield in the discard pile, in an apparent suicide maneuver.  
It was then that Daisuke had his turn, he attacked with a new monster, Celtic Guardian (1400/1200), at Ranma's Basic Insect, and multiplied the monster with Elegant Egotist, hoping that he could create an equal number of monsters to Ranma's own Basic Insects.  
Ranma shook his head, and turned over his facedown cards. Daisuke saw Ranma had Basic Insect, The Dark Magician, The Magical Ghost and The King of Ghost monster cards, his magic and trap cards consisted of The Dark Sword of Destruction, Multiply, of course, and Polyerisation that had been used on the three dark monsters. Daisuke made a quick mental calculation and gulped. Then he smiled.  
"I don't think there is any doubt about who'll win, is there Ranma?" he laughed, "I give-up!"  
Ranma and Dasuke collected their cards and Hiroshi spoke up. "Wow, you're good Ranma. Have you thought about entering the Duelists competition?"  
Ranma looked blankly. "Huh!"  
"Jeez, man," laughed Daisuke cheerfully. "The whole school has been buzzing with it! Illustrated Illusions have donated loads of the latest in Duelist Holo-stadiums to schools over the country; we were lucky enough to get one. To celebrate it, the school is having a competition using the Holo-stadium, tomorrow!"  
"What is the prize?"  
"You'll never guess!"  
"I won't have to if you tell me!"  
"A real beauty of a card, a Blue Eyes White Dragon! One of the four in the world and the winner gets to go to a inter-school competition along with the second and third runner-ups! And after that, it's inter-country; no one actually knows anything about the ultimate prize except that it is a unique card. Everyone's talking about it! Some think it's one of the legendary God type cards!"'  
  
And now as Ranma walked home, thinking about it, he found the idea tempting. To get all of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, a nearly impossible task, would make his mothers last days perhaps more happy. Even if it was a slim chance, he had to do it!  
That night Ranma was, once again, on his futon. He held the puzzle in one hand and the deck in the other, he was cross-legged and in his sleeping gear. In a small flash a few cards appeared floating in the air in front of Ranma and slid silently into the deck, under Ranma's scrutiny. Ranma put away the deck and prepared to sleep.  
He was smiling as he lay down to sleep. He had just summoned Yami's best cards, the Accended Angels, seven cards that were both, monsters, with effects, and magic cards. They were good for a pinch and very flexible.  
  
As he slept, the telephone rang, shortly answered by a still-awake Kasumi, who after taking the call barged into Ranma's room and shook him awake.  
"Ranma, Hiroshi's been in an accident, Ranma!" she shouted at Ranma.   
Ranma grasped her by the upper arms and demanded an explanation.  
  
A few hours later Ranma was at the hospital. After asking where he was, Ranma rushed to Hiroshi's room, where his mother, father and Daisuke, who phoned Nabiki earlier, were waiting by Hiroshi's still form, encased in bandages, well his legs and right hand, at any rate. Hiroshi heard him and asked his to come closer.  
"Dude what happened to you?" asked Ranma concerned.  
"Car, me, big bang against my legs and my arm. You know, nothing much." he made light of it, but Ranma could tell there was something, Hiroshi wanted to tell him but couldn't because his family and Daisuke.  
Ranma gave a look and a gesture. They all understood, and quietly left.  
Ranma brought his attention to Hiroshi, "What is it man?"  
Hiroshi laughed, "I wanted to go to that competition, Ranma. You know, show everyone that I could do something, even if I did lose, at least I could show them all, that I had the will to try! You know?"  
Ranma nodded: smiling in comprehension.  
"Ranma I'm not going to be going to the competition now, but I would feel better if a part of me went!" Hiroshi used his undamaged hand to reach to his bedside table and pick up a leather case, containing a deck of Duel Monster cards. He flicked it open on his chest, brought the deck out and slowly went through each one of them, looking for one in particular. He smiled when he found it and passed it to Ranma, it was the right leg of Exodia, he looked for another card and handed it to Ranma, the Crush Virus trap card, along with Dark Swords Man (2600/2300).  
"They are my best cards. The right leg of Exodia is useless in and of itself, however it can be played at 300/400, infect it with the Crush Virus trap card and it will infect the enemy. The enemy can't use anything over 1500 attack points, that doesn't stop them enhancing their cards with magic though. When that happens you can slaughter them with Dark Swords Man, especially if you use Harpies Feather Duster in the same turn. Please, use them at the competition. If you find yourself incapable, I won't blame you. Just, if you can."  
Ranma looked hard at the cards. "You have one of the Exodia cards?"  
"No, I'm giving them to you for good!"  
"You misunderstand me, YOU have, okay, had an Exodia card!"  
"Yeah, I got it in a booster pack ages ago."  
Ranma smiled, "That means I now have two pieces of Exodia now!"  
Hiroshi's eye widened and his mouth imitated a fish.  
"I have the body and now the right leg of Exodia. It's gotta be Karma!"  
  
The next day Ranma was awoken by Akane in her customary fashion by followed by a kick to the ribs that did little but tickle, even if it had the force to crack concrete. The night before, Ranma went from the hospital reassured that Hiroshi was stable and was going to be all right, just bed-ridden for the few months.   
  
Instead of going to school that morning, Ranma went to his mother's home, where she taught him more about duel monsters, her personnel experiences and strategies. Ranma hadn't the heart he knew most of what she said, by heart, but what he didn't know; he absorbed like a dry sponge. This continued until six, when Nodaka and her son left to go to Fruikan high.   
Ranma was going to compete, thought Nodaka. His first professional, well, semi-professional tournament.   
She was half worried that he would do well, and half-worried he would do badly. If he found it too easy or too difficult, his motivation could die. The best battle for him was a tough one but one that he could win, because if he could, he would.  
They took a taxi to the High School, however, at the school, sinister things were happening.  
  
The door to the vice-principal's office opened with a squeak as a dark figure walked into the room, stealthily and silently.  
The shadowy figure crept to the briefcase, containing the prize card. The shadow-covered person thought to itself, it's not stealing. I'll win it anyway. I'm just getting my prize early. That's all!  
He/She/It opened the slim briefcase and took the slip of thin card.  
  
Ranma and his mother arrived at the school gates. Ranma paid the cab driver, grumbling about the price, and followed his mother in doors.  
After three hours of getting registered, Ranma arranged a seat for his mother, and waited for all the contestants to be arranged. The first battle began between two kids a year younger than Ranma. He was Blue 5, in the blue podium for battle no. 5. Ranma observed the other four battles closely, analyzing their strategies and assimilating their styles.  
  
Five minutes before the battle no.5, Ranma took out his deck and used his chestnuts-roasting-over-an-open-fire revision Evolving Deck, where he used the great speed to rearranged his deck without people seeing his strategies.  
  
Then it came about, battle no. 5. Saotome Ranma, and Tendo Nabiki.  
There was a spotlight of illumination, making the Duelists, in their podiums, visible.  
"In the Red podium, Tendo Nabiki," There was a small smattering of applause.  
"And in the Blue podium, Saotome Ranma," following this was both the spotlight illumination and a great deal of enthusiastic cheering from Nabiki-haters.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, to start the fields off, Tendo Nabiki has requested her half to be wasteland and Saotome Ranma has requested graveyard territory, and as this is our first Duel their requests have been granted by the judges! Now let's Duel!"  
"So, Ranma will you play first or shall I?" Smirked Nabiki, the Ice-queen of Fruikan.  
"After you, of course," smiled Ranma pleasantly. They both took the first six cards from their deck and made them into hands. Ranma smiled as he saw his cards: Dark Magician (2500/2100), Summoned Skeleton (2500/1200), Sword Stalker (2400/1800), the magic cards: Call of the Haunted, Polyerisation and the trap card: SpellBinding Circle. Perfect, he thought, but put on a grim face, making Nabiki think he had drawn a bad hand, which she bought if the smile on her face was of any inclination.  
Nabiki put down a Harpies Lady (1600/1750) and ended her turn.   
Ranma put down both Dark Magician and Summoned Skeleton and ended his turn after drawing two new cards: magic cards - Invigoration and Black hole.  
Nabiki put down Cyber Armor increasing her monsters' defense and drew a new card.  
Ranma smiled, she was trying to make him slip up, by only acting one every turn, a costly mistake. He put down Sword Stalker and Black hole.  
Nabiki could only watch in horror as the holographic image showed her monster and even Ranma's own monsters, all three of them, being sucked into a black hole never to return. She looked at Ranma, again with the annoying smirk, looking expectantly at her life-point meter - it fell from 2000 to 1200.  
Nabiki was breathing heavily at the damage she had sustained, part out of anger and part out of frustration. She slowly smiled as she saw Ranma's life-points meter, expecting it to fall, and when it didn't she looked at Ranma, who mouth 'defense mode.'  
She looked at her hand, full of magic cards and trap cards, without a monster, she couldn't play, she needed to draw a monster from her deck or lose the game. She slowly reached for her deck and lifted a card from it, he looked at it and saw it was her 2nd Harpies Lady card, she gleefully placed it down on the panel and waited for Ranma's reaction.  
This was what he was counting on; Nabiki's comeback, now he could really get the game started. He put down Call of the Haunted, which resurrected his monsters as zombies. His zombie Dark Stalker used its' natural ability to call forth the wasted life energies of a fallen ally and as the others were zombies, they didn't need it. Zombie Dark Stalker was raised on par with the Dark Magician at 2500/2100. Instead of attacking the shocked Nabiki, he used the magic Polyerisation card on his three Zombies. The result being a humanoid skeleton with demonic visages, a large sword and intermittent purple rings sunk into its' undead flesh.  
"Let me introduce, Magicked Zombie Stalker!" stated Ranma in a normal tone, only showing some small part of his enormous ego.  
It was powered up to 3200/2600 along with the field power bonus and death points, which increased every time it died.  
Nabiki couldn't understand it, she thought Ranma would be a push-over, even though she heard stories from Daisuke, but here he was, just creating a monster more powerful that what she could hope to enhance her Harpies Lady and in only a few turns. All she could do was raise the defense and give more targets to aim at. She used another Cyber Armor, (2000/1750) along with an Elegant Egotist to both juice-up their defense points by tripling the Harpies each turn.  
Ranma sees this and smirked as he put down the Change of Heart card, which gave him control over a Harpies Lady, for 1 turn, then he put down a magic card called Re-flip which allowed Ranma to make three more moves in that turn.  
Nabiki couldn't believe it as one of her own juiced up Harpies Ladies joined the other side, however that was to come, during Ranma's three extra moves, made it nothing in comparison.  
Ranma placed a Polyerisation card down on the panel and as a result the zombie monster merged with the Harpies Lady, changing very little except being much more lithe and floating. Ranma then gave it an attack power boost with Invigoration. And then for his final-move, he ordered the zombie to attack all the Harpy Ladies with its' Gale Force Decaying Breath.  
Nabiki didn't know that you could steal another player's monster and fuse it with another, it just wasn't done, it' couldn't be! She stared coldly at the projection as her Harpy Ladies began to rot and fall down as corpses, she blinked as her life-points went down to zero.  
"And there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen. Saotome Ranma is the Winner." called the announcer's voice. Ranma went down the escalator-cum-floor and went back to his seat in the competitor's area. Nabiki did the same, sparing an odd glance at Ranma.  
  
Ranma had three more one-sided battle like that until he reached the top beside someone else, Kuno Tatewaki. The samurai obsessed moron was in the Blue podium and Ranma in the Red. The field was 100% wasteland.  
"Ha, here in the field on strategy and battle, I reign supreme. You, evil sorcerer, shall fall to my feet. Ha, ha, ha." laughed Kuno insanely as Ranma calmly rearranged his deck, put it down and then drew his hand.  
Ranma had just as he planned, his Blue Eyes White Dragon, his Red Eye Black Dragon, kept to the side in case Kuno's money got him some powerful cards, his Castle of Dark Illusion, Spell-binding Circle and Polyerisation.  
Kuno had finished his spiel about Ranma being a lost soul for going against him and had picked his hand.  
Ranma went first by placing down his Castle of Dark Illusion. Then he put down Spellbinding Circle, facedown. A holographic image of a castle floating in the air with mists of pure darkness flowing from it to consume Ranma's wasteland field appeared above the field.  
"Ha, darkness itself is no match for the power in my hand." laughed Kuno as he put down two cards, which appeared as holographic images. "Behold my two Blue eyes White Dragon!" The two dragons roared.  
Ranma's eye widened and then became steely in determination. Ranma put down multiply and Basic Insect, to re-create the shield/defense system he used with Daisuke.  
Kuno laughed, despite his inability to see Ranma's cards and put down another monster card facedown.   
Ranma noticed it and his eyes widened, another Blue Eyes White Dragon card. The innate power represented by it was so great; he didn't need to consciously 'look' at it with his magic.   
Ranma then looked at the briefcase beside the vice-principal, there was no card in it, what magic he had harnessed told him that. Ranma placed down the Chaos Shield card and Polyerisation, facedown.  
With all of his Basic Insects in defense mode and with the Chaos Shield, he was, for now impenetrable.  
Kuno laughed and put down Invigoration for one of his Blue eye White Dragon (3200/2500).  
Ranma put down Ancient Elf and Mystic Elf and ended his turn.  
Kuno mirrored his invigoration for his other Blue Eyes White Dragon (3200/2500).  
Ranma put down Tweedledum and Tweedledee, a magic card that allowed a boost or equipment magic card to work simultaneously for two monsters without decreasing it's potency and used it for Book of Secret Arts to power up the Ancient Elf (1750/1500) and the Mystic Elf (1100/2300).  
Kuno invigorated his hidden blue eyes White Dragon (3200/2500) and played a protecting trap card, Dragon's Cage. It would protect his dragon for one whole turn when activated, but only against non-draconian monsters.  
Ranma put down his Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) and he put his own Blue Eyes White Dragon in play (3000/2500).  
Kuno put a new card down, a trap card, Mirror Force, down.  
Ranma put down a magic card called Dragon Nails that would increase both of his dragons attack points, due to the Tweedledum and Tweedledee card, and also placed another magic card, facedown.  
Kuno put a samurai in silver armor on the field, Steel Samurai (1600/1500).  
Ranma smirked as he saw Kuno draw a magic card, Swords of Revealing light, a card that would immobilize him and destroy the dark veil. It didn't work because of the spellbinding circle.  
Ranma used the Polyerisation card that he had left facedown to fuse his two dragons and as it's power was doubled by Tweedledum and Tweedledee. It also fused the two spell-casters, which were both busy weaving a spell since their deployment, by fusing they increased the power of the spell. Therefore he created Twin Metal Dragon and Elven Sage. He then to end his turn, the spell-caster was ordered to give the dragon a greatly enhanced attack and defense points, until it was close to being on par with the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.  
Then Kuno used the Samurai's throwing star attack to destroy his castle.  
Ranma however wasn't annoyed, but Kuno was wetting himself at the sight of a giant black and white dragon with four eyes where normally there were only two, one on top of the other, the top ones blue the bottom ones red. The blue-robbed, Elven Mage and his rope of light connecting himself to the dragon didn't go unnoticed. Kuno would attack but the pack of reproducing Basic Insects and Chaos Shield rendered that impossible.  
Ranma smiled wider as he saw Kuno get nervous and put another warrior on the field Celtic Guardian (1400/1200).  
Ranma put down the magic card Harpies Feather Duster, then turned over a facedown magic card Change of Heart. This destroyed both the magic cards and trap cards on Kuno's side, and, being doubled still by Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Change of Heart took Control of Kuno's two Dragons and made them attack each other with white lightening. Kuno's life points went from '2000' to '500' in a storm of pixels.  
"Kuno," taunted Ranma. "Nice Dragons, very, um, white. I'll tell you what if you manage to win this; I'll give you my Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes Black Dragon. However, when you lose though I want the Blue eyes White Dragons in your possession, all of them! Or, then again, perhaps you are too much of a coward."  
"I am no coward," shouted Kuno, "I accept!"  
Sucker, thought Ranma.  
Kuno drew two magic cards called Black Hole and Invigoration; first he put his monsters in defense. Then he used black hole.  
Ranma barely flinched, as all his monsters were swept away like particle of dust. ~2000~ - ~600~  
Then to finish his turn, Kuno used Invigoration to enhance his now revealed hidden Blue Eyes White Dragon, protected by the trap card. The revealed dragon conjured some confused glances from all concerned.  
The Vice-principal became very suspicious. He put his case onto his lap and opened it to find the prize Blue Eyes White Dragon missing! He glared accusingly at Kuno, who didn't notice. 'That boy was in so much trouble!'  
Ranma then procured a Reborn the Monster card, which he used to resurrect his Two Metal Dragon and the Elven Sage, thanks again the unaffected Tweedledum and Tweedledee. He ended it all by using his boosted Two Metal Dragon to attack with Carbon Charging Carnage, a beam of energy, electricity and fire. Kuno's dragon didn't stand a chance. Kuno lost all his life points in a storm of white pixels.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Kuno Tatewaki is disqualified for the theft and utilization of the Prize Card. Saotome Ranma is the Winner both by default and by dueling. During the game also, there was a bet made by the two contestant, as it was agreed to, Kuno Tatewaki must deliver all three of the Blue Eyes White Dragons to Saotome Ranma, immediately."  
Both duelists were back on the ground were a surly and angry Kuno handed over the three cards. When Ranma turned with out saying that you, his demented mind used it as a reason to attack.  
The fight didn't last; when Kuno jumped Ranma leant forward and pointed his foot towards Kuno. When Kuno impacted, Ranma did a forward flip, causing the wannabe-samurai to fly ten feet away, between stands.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Saotome Ranma is our Fruikan Champion who will duel as our representative at the Inter-City championships. If he succeeds at the inter-city he will be our Tokyo representative at the Japanese championships. If he succeeds at that, he will be Japans representative at the Inter-Continental championships. Thank you all for coming. We all hope you enjoyed it. Drinks and refreshments are in the..."  
Everyone was already gone!  
  
End of Chapter 1. 


	3. Wild Sand Chapter 2

Wild Sand chapter 2  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 2  
  
Ranma was on the Dojo roof, thinking. It was becoming a nasty habit for him. He thought about the Duel with Kuno, earlier that night. It was... pitiful, the same for Nabiki. They had both often only used one action per turn, they didn't use either powerful enough strategies or monsters, and they had underestimated him and his deck! The only good thing that came from the battle was the completion of the collection of Blue Eyes White Dragons and his mothers pride at the duels he had fought.  
Ranma fingered his Millennium Puzzle. What was he doing this for? True, he hadn't done anything yet to get more Millennium Items, but he was preparing. Why was he striving for the Godhood of the Shadow Realm: Two things, his mother's life and his curse, anything else, were secondary. True, that power would be tempting to a saint, but the power was only a tool to do those two things for him.  
He sighed and shifted on the rafters. The first thing he needed to do was to get the Millennium Ring, if he could. The Millennium Ring could both point to a Millennium Item and use it; it was the connection that would activate the whole godly transformation. Ultimately, the one with the Millennium Ring had a greater chance of achieving the ultimate goal - Godhood. All the other items had a slightly stronger bond connecting them to the ring, allowing it to trace them and for them to find it.  
It was in the hands of the Phionex King, Saffron, the so-called demi-god. Saffron had it for perhaps a few centuries and hadn't been activated. Well, no one could accuse the spoilt brat of being clever! But how to get the invaluable item, how! If he went, he'd be missed, so he'd need a good excuse!  
Eureka, he'd say that he heard from a guy in a mysterious magic shop had told him that there was a cave worthy people could go to lose their curses, near the cursed valley, it was weird enough to be accepted at face value. No one would question it; but then again other cursed people might go after the non-existent cure. Well, he'd have to deal with it as it comes. Um, he could also say he was making it into a training journey to become better, in case he was attacked at his destination!  
But, there would be a price: he would be away from his mother for a while during these precious months. But if he didn't do it there would be no way of keeping her alive at all! It was decided in Ranma's mind, with each Item he got, his Item-derived powers would grow, and more training would awaken more of his Yami side's powers. With this growth in power he could keep her alive, extend what time she had left with magic until he got all seven items and healed her entirely. After all, cancer was hated for its' tenacity, as well as it's slow way of killing, that tenacity protected it from magic as well as modern medicine. The more he thought of it, the more the plan made sense and became the better of all other options.  
A switch in his mind went on and he remembered some details that he had forgotten through the fusion. The seven items each had a special power, the Ring had the ability to find and use the other Items, and the Puzzle had the ability to travel instantaneously to any place, by going into and warping the Shadow Realm. He couldn't remember the other powers of the Items off-hand, but perhaps...  
  
Ranma groaned as he saw the tips of a ladder come to rest against the wall and figure that climbed it to come up to the roof.  
"Oh hello, Nabiki," said Ranma guardedly, more than aware that Nabiki had a degree of malice in her. Just the thought of Nabiki learning of the Items and wielding one of them made a shiver run down his back.  
"Hello, Ranma," said Nabiki, as sweet as honey, this immediately put Ranma on the defensive. "Tell me right now how you defeated me and how you got so good. No, ignore the first one, tell me how you got that good and where you got that deck!"  
Ranma closed his eye and whispered so she had to strain to hear him, "You really want to know?"  
"Yes," said Nabiki leaning further to hear him and speaking in the same volume by sub-conscious instinct.  
"You really, really want to know?" he whispered even lighter so she had to lean closer.  
"Yes," she was only a foot from his face, straining to hear him.  
"It's a SECRET," Ranma suddenly shouted, causing Nabiki to jump back and land on her behind.  
Nabiki screamed in rage and produced a mallet just like Akanes' from that unknown mysterious place where women carried things of great pain potential, and malleted Ranma laughing form. She was shocked when he didn't notice even when the shingles underneath him broke with the transmitted pressure.  
Suddenly though Ranma was all business and looked at her, "I'm going on a training trip to China tomorrow. I got a hint about a place which negates the effects of the curse and I am going alone." He equally suddenly smiled and looked cheerful. "Bye, Nab-Chan. See, you bright and early." Nabiki only looked dazed, as if she had missed something, and looked at his retreating form, jumping to his window.  
She looked at the broken shingles and cursed.  
  
The next morning, Akane stomped to Ranma's room with a cold bucket of water and a cruel, sadistic smile on her face. She was shocked when she found him, up and packing away his stuff, into his bag.  
She became very angry, very quickly. "What the Hell, do you think you're doing?"  
"Going on a little trip," said Ranma shortly. He wasn't lying after all, to him it would be a little trip, but the training would be longer than the trip. Now, wasn't instantaneous-travel just wonderful?  
This made Akane angrier. "Where?" Her Hammer-hand was twitching.  
"Phionex Mountain," he said shortly.  
"Why, I nearly died there!"  
Maybe I'm going to try and remember that wonderful, yet unfortunately brief, time! Thought Ranma. "To find a cure for my curse," then he added, muttering. "And something else."  
"What 'something else'?" asked Akane sardonically.  
Ranma stiffened, he had a really loose tongue in this incarnation. "Uh, nothing. Well, maybe I'll see Saffron. I kinda feel sorry for the guy!"  
Akanes eye twitched. The freak, that killed me, he feels sorry for my murderer. My property exists to protect me; I won't let My property slip away from my. I'll pound him till he can't move, yeah. Thought the demented, spoilt and just plain insane dominant segments in his mind, the few parts capable of rational reason were squashed firmly.  
Akane drew her Mallet and lunged. She didn't feel the soft sound of battered flesh, but she did feel air. Ranma looked at the pitiful demented figure of Akane falling to the floor after losing her balance, due to his dodging her mallet.  
Ranma shook his head, picked hp his backpack and calmly exited the room. Explaining things to his hosts and parents was easy, especially with some hastily woven lies. Only his mother had any suspicion when he had gone round to her house to talk to her, but luckily she didn't push the issue. He had used the opportunity to give his mother her brooch  
  
By noon he was at a small town near the beach, there he got some hot water to reverse his gender-switching curse. It isn't particularly comfortable to walk long distances without a sports bra! Also while he was their he took the opportunity to duel, a few local duelists and buy a booster pack from a small, yet surprisingly well stocked, convenience store.  
  
By five he was at the beach. He took the Puzzle from around his neck and held it so the point faced his destination, using the Rings signal to assist his aim, he pointed it to Phionex mountain, roughly. Ranma focused his power to activate the disused ability. He disappeared in a flash of multicolored light.  
Hundreds of miles away, five miles from Cloud Pass, Ranma appeared in a flash of multicolored light in the center of a clearing.  
Ranma opened his eyes and smiled, now he could train.  
  
That day:  
Ranma was cross-legged on a rock in the center of a large field. He was preparing to duplicate some monster attacks with his Chi and Sa.  
One after one; attacks shot from his large blue and violet aura. Arrows, fireballs, gaseous streams, energy beams and balls.  
This was a facet of Yami's magical ability and powers. A power well remembered, and practiced, in an attempt to integrate them in Ranma's martial artistry.  
The strength of the monsters' attacks were variable within Ranma's abilities and limitations, but attacks of monsters than were more 'powerful' than his 'attack' and 'defense' power, were incapable of being used at an equal power to the original monster's attack power. The attack remained but the actual power, of the attack used by its' monster, didn't come into it unless Ranma was equal or greater in power.  
However, magic cards all took an equal amount of power to be activated, relatively small, with a mere trickle of power to activate.  
Trap cards took no power to have ready, but took the same as an activation cost of a magic card to trigger.  
And thought-out the gradual remembering process, he practiced his Sa and Chi to uncomfortable levels; pressing himself to become better; stretching his limitations; gradually extending his power and abilities, stretching his perceptions of what was and was not possible.  
Ranma smiled in the knowledge that he was surpassing both his incarnations in power, and ability.  
  
The next day:  
Ranma gradually learnt something, something that even his Yami existence was completely ignorant of. Quite out of accident, as all great discoveries are.  
If a monster card was infused with Chi and Sa in a particular ratio, they could be brought into being with little or no strain, except for the cost of keeping it in existence. Not unusual of itself, it was easy to do so with pure Sa, however the difference lay in the fact that the creature could become other monster cards, once the card was selected, without wasting the energy on creating one, wasting it and summoning a new one.  
A magic card could, also, be given some Chi and it would give quite extraordinary reach if used in the real world, instead of the duelist-stadium distance limit.  
And finally, if one created a bridging between ones auras, magical and spiritual with the deck, one could 'see' through them, know where they are, their properties, and even activate them at a distance.  
Ranma was very proud and a little surprised at the bridging ability. He had assumed that infusing his Chi into the cards would make them less liable to be broken, but after exposing them to both of his aura, he found them unbreakable, added to the other bonuses of the bridging.  
Ranma's pride in his accomplishments swelled, as he felt himself become free of the blocks on his skill that had existed before the fusion.  
  
The day after:  
Ranma felt an odd tingle. It was a signal that a Millenium Item; was beginning to be activated; it had kept him up all of last night.  
He ignored it and focused on channeling his power on the magic card, 'Copycat'. A duplicate of Ranma appeared beside him and they said simultaneously, "Cool."  
The tingle felt worse and both of them looked up in the sky with frowns on their faces, as if it can from there.  
Saffron had found the Ring; that was obvious. However, it only meant that Ranma would need to train in his dueling strategies, as well as his powers, and body.  
  
The day after that:  
Ranma looked at his small piles of cards and pondered various combos.  
After a few hours, he settled on three combos, who, with any luck, would help him, cream Saffron.  
  
And the day after that:  
"Obliviate!" screamed Ranma, causing an innocent tree to cease to exist.  
He wiped sweat off his brow as he breathed deeply, calming down after the rush of using the power of the Shadow Realm, Sa.  
Ranma was pleased to note he was getting more powerful than he was before.  
  
The final day:  
Ranma looked back on the meadow. It was almost completely charred, frozen or charged with unnatural levels of energy, causing equally unnatural occurrences for that area. He raised an eyebrow at the lava whirlpool and scratched his neck a little at the sight of a squirrel made from lava, grow into a large 'thing' straight out of a children's TV show (the ones that cause grown men to cower,).  
Ranma stretched his hand out towards the meadow from his position at the crest of a hill. He felt into the Shadow Realm and sent his will into it, bending reality in the process. He wove the magic and spiritual energy together into an unbreakable frame and activated the spell.  
"Purification of Power," whispered Ranma as the spell of the Shadow Realm, reverted everything back to how it was, but created an adverse effect. A card materialized in his hand: a normal Duel Monsters card, with it's own special power.  
It was a magic card, as Ranma found as he looked at it. It was a light type, designed to purify a place of anything, but in the game, it restarted the fields, removing all effects, monsters from the field and magic cards or trap cards. It even had the same name as Ranma had used for it, Purification of Power.  
  
Ranma approached the main gate of Phionex Mountain warily, on his way to find the, um, man, Saffron, that could tell him where the Ring was, or was in possession of it or it of him. There was no way to guess what problems he would face before reaching Saffron: ambushes and traps were not above the Phionex people.   
He stepped with careful paces, keeping an eye on his surroundings, probing the nearby area with Sa and radiating chi, sensing it's return and timing it, like a bat does with high-pitched sounds. He found no traps and no ambushes.  
He continued on his wary way. Until he found a large chamber, with his Sa, just around a corner. He carefully followed the tunnel into the cavern.   
In it he found Saffron: looking at him and smiling! The birdman smile was not nice! There was a crowd of Phionex-people around an obscured structure in the center of the cavern.  
Ranma frowned and probed the structure carefully. It was a...  
"Do you like my Dueling Stadium? I got it rather recently." Smirked Saffron.  
"Why?" asked Ranma, already knowing most of the answer.  
"Well, why not? You and I both know that to get a Millenium Item from an individual: who has one, they must lose a duel to the person who gets the Item. You have the Puzzle and I have the Ring. I have been waiting for you to come here. The Ring told me that the Puzzle has been in your possession for at least a week! I have been preparing ever since. You see, you may have defeated me in battle once before, but I want a rematch, as a duel instead, however!"  
"Two questions, Saffron. How did you get your adult form, was it the Ring or the pool?"  
"Why the ring of course. I encountered it in one of our vaults of ancient magical artifacts, when I was, uh, playing hide and seek." Saffron blushed.  
"Ah, well. Who is the soul that's in the ring?" asked Ranma.  
"I believe you know, Mutep!" Saffron chuckled.  
"Oh, that guy!" steamed Ranma, narrowing his eyes dangerously at Saffron's chest where the Ring could be seen dangling. "He was one of the people who killed me!"  
"Huh?" exclaimed Saffron. "What do you mean by that?" Damn, if he doesn't like the trapped soul then he might not fight for him. I would have lost my advantage, thought Saffron franticly.  
"Well," Ranma cheered up, "That just means if you lose I can't destroy or capture your soul in accordance with tradition, otherwise he would be released! So, I guess I'll just have to take your item, when I win!"  
Saffron smiled nastily, "After you." He waved his hand towards the stadium.  
  
"Okay Ranma, here are the terms: loser gives up his Item to the winner and no cheating." began Saffron snidely. "The field is half wasteland and half mountains."  
"Odd, but I'll go along with your game!" Ranma raised an eyebrow  
"Let's Duel," the shouted simultaneously, the hoard of Phionex-people looking in curious wonder.  
Saffron picked his five cards for his hand and smiled at Ranma, who ignored the pompous Phionex-'god.'  
Ranma's hand had Castle of Dark Illusion (2500/2800), Dark Monster (2200/2500), Mirror Force, Sword of Dark Destruction and finally Dark Swords Man (2600/2300).  
He smiled inwardly and outwardly cringed.   
Saffron smiled more. He put down a monster card facedown and in defense and one magic / trap card.  
Ranma responded by putting Dark Swords Man, facedown in defense. He finished his turn by putting down Mirror Force to protect his monster.  
"Well, this would be a boring game if all we do is put down defense monsters!" Saffron placed another magic card down, facedown and put his monster face-up. Phionex Swordsman, (1700/1700).  
The monster was a roughly humanoid Phionex with wings and a large orange broadsword.  
Ranma frowned; it would be an easy kill for Dark Swordsman or Dark Monster. Some-thing just didn't feel right. He looked at his two newly drawn cards, Shuiji and Unrevealing Haze. With this combo he could bring Shuiji on to the field but keep him, and any others, disguised in the middle of a thick fog, which would even make his cards invisible to the view-screen on Saffron's side of the Stadium. In the next turn he could easily destroy the Phionex Swordsman!  
He put down the two cards and a pillar of gray mist hid a newly summoned monster. Saffron cursed when he saw the mist's effects on his screen.   
Saffron turned over the two magic cards, playing them: Phionex Feather, that increased his Phionex Swordsman's defense by 500, and Salamandra that raised its attack points by 800.   
It was now 2200/2500, Ranma noted, equal to Dark Monster. Ranma placed Dark Swords Man (2600/2300,) down and placed another monster-card down.  
Saffron smirked and put down Cyber Armor, adding another 400 attack points to his Phionex Swordsman (2600/2500).  
If Ranma was slightly miffed that Saffron could juice up such a powerful card, he didn't show it.  
"Now, we finish this!" shouted Ranma at his opponent. "Now I deactivate Unrevealing Haze..."  
Saffron gasped as he saw that Ranma had both Shuiji and Kanejin in play. Two of the trinity! He thought. And then he saw the Dark Monster and the Dark swordsman. Two very powerful cards!  
"And I'll put down these two cards. Go, Sanga..."  
A third monster appeared next to the other two of the trinity. All three began to glow, till the flowed together and became a single monster.  
"...To become the Gate Guardian (3750/3400). And I use polymerization on all my monsters on the field!"  
The areas under the three monsters glowed white and shot up and pillars, the pillars of raging light moving slowly closer and closer until they became one pillar.  
"Here is The Guardian of Darkness."  
A taller version of Gate Guardian was left when the pillar dissipated; it was black, purple and dark blue. It eyes glowed white and it's form was surrounded in a thick hazy orange and yellow aura (4600/4000,).  
Ranma shouted, "Guardian of Darkness, attack Phionex Swordsman with Darkness Power Intertwining!"  
The monster brought its pseudo-mechanical hands together at it's chest, to hold a sphere of black and white, suddenly a beam shot out from it, a swirling blast of black and white magic that passed through the doomed Swordsman, as if it wasn't there.  
Saffron looked aghast. The difference between the two monsters was two thousand attack points, as they had both been in attack mode, he lost his two thousand life-points, and therefore had lost.  
  
Ranma stepped off his podium and walked over to the angry Saffron.  
"Saffron, hand over the Ring," Ranma demanded of the 'demi-god.'  
Saffron removed it and handed it over to Ranma, unwilling to face his people, to see them see him weak, to see their disappointment, to see their fear. Now that he no longer had the item, and with the source of the pool being cut off, he had no way to return to adult form, to keep his people safe, and happy, and living.  
Unknown to Saffron, Ranma, saw what Saffron was feeling. It was quite obvious; the man's drive was either his pride or his people. Ranma was willing to believe it was his people that motivated this sudden depression.   
Ranma took off his puzzle and took the two items in either hand.  
The Ring, he saw, was a ring around a triangular center with another eye emblem inside it, the ring anchoring five pointers. He noted that the triangular shape, in the center, was the same dimensions' as a cross-section of the center of the puzzle. He was following instinct mostly as he moved the two closer together, the puzzle phased through the central shape, like it wasn't there. He released them as their portals' synchronized, causing the superimposed items to glow gold and a hundred other colors.   
He heard the silent song of the power washing over and through the items into him. He could have screamed with the power raging through him from the items.  
The Phionex-people and their leader could only look in shock as the stranger was enveloped in an aura of multicolored magical power, emanating from the two super-imposed eye symbols in the two glowing items; that were slowly becoming even brighter.  
Ranma heard a few gasps and screams from the crowd, but didn't react to them. The power flowing into him was from both of the items, causing his limbs to become infused with magical energy and bolstered amounts of Chi and Sa and his eyes to shoot out beams of pure gold energy.  
The Item quite suddenly stopped glowing as bright; instead it shone an odd clear light, like a shining distortion in reality. The new fusion of the items was identical to the Puzzle except it had a large ring connected to the downward pointing corner and the middle of opposite sides of the base. The shrunken ring used to tie the Puzzle to Ranma's neck was gone; instead there was a hole at the top of the ring for a length of thread to be passed through. The fused ring had the same pointers and in the same places. The eye emblem in the Millenium Puzzle glowed with powerful multicolored energy as it flew backwards towards Ranma's chest, where it stopped, created a thread and threaded itself throughout the hole, around Ranma's neck and knotting at the hole in the Item.   
Ranma himself was still enveloped in a powerful aura, his eyes glowing with magical energy, elemental energy crackling around his lithe form.  
"Saffron." He began in an unnaturally melodic voice, "Whatever I think of you, your people do not deserve to die!" He reached out with a hand and pointed at Saffron. A beam of gold flecked red energy shot from his finger.   
The energy enveloped Saffron in a nimbus of red, gold and blue flames. Once it dissipated, Saffron remained, shocked and glowing with the same energy that was shot at him.  
"That power will keep you in adult form for another five thousand years, I don't have enough power to give your adult form power for any longer. But know this Saffron, if you and the Phionex people wage war on the outside world or an unnecessary war on either the Musk or the Amazons, your power will go and will kill you in the process." Warned Ranma, in the same unnatural voice.   
Suddenly he closed his eyes and the aura was drawn into him. He reopened his eyes and said quite cheerfully, "Bye, Saffron!"   
He pictured Tokyo in his mind's eye and disappeared in a flash of multicolored light, leaving a colony of shocked Phionex-people.  
  
Nodaka Saotome slept uncomfortably, tossing and turning. She still slept despite the danger of being awoken by the sudden flash of light.  
Ranma walked over to beside his mother's bed. He tapped into the new levels of power he had been given when the two items merged and allowed it to flow from his tight constraints, into his mother, directed at the tumor.   
He could feel his consciousness extending through the power to the tumor. He could also feel and sense the growth reverse its, well, growth.  
He did as much as he could to heal her, and despite not being able to complete the healing and destroy the growth, he felt as if he had achieved a great accomplishment.  
He smiled gently at his now peacefully sleeping mother and disappeared.  
  
Ranma appeared in a flash of light at the edge of a tall building, overlooking most of Nerima ward.  
"So, what now?" he asked himself, "I can go after any one of the items now, the Rod, the Tauk, the Eye, the Ankh or the Scales. But which one, when? In three days I have the Inter-city championships. There I'll meet the best duelists in the city; perhaps there will be someone with an Item. After all, the close connection between the game and the Items would practically assure the Items being involved somehow, if they were in the city, if not, they maybe involved in the higher levels of the championships! Yes, that would be logical to assume!"  
Ranma continued to ponder, until he started frowning. Frowning, in Ranma's case is very, very bad or really irritating. In this case it was in the very, very bad category!  
He scanned the city below him, sending out sensitive tendrils of Sa and Chi, finding the location of a disturbance in the layers of background magical energy, referred to as the 'lay-lines.' It was in Juuban, some powerful magical signatures were heading it's way, but what ever it was couldn't be good, and it was a martial artist job to protect the innocent, and, indirectly, to fight evils.  
He vanished once again in a flash of multi-colored light.  
  
The monster wasn't the largest they had ever faced, but it defiantly wasn't the smallest! It was eating away at the surroundings with some sort of acidic secretion, it had no body or head, it was more like a ever-shifting slug or jellyfish made of black, oily flesh. Inset in the shifting, ugly, surface were what they assumed were its faces. The only things in its path of continual destruction were seven girls in fukus, in a defensive line right in front of it.  
"Stop," bellowed a gangly blonde-haired girl with two ponytails. "For disturbing the natural harmony of our city. I am Sailor Moon, and you shall be punished!" She and the rest of them took various poses.  
The monster didn't look impressed.  
  
Ranma, far up above on the roof of a nearby building, shook his head despairingly.  
"Stupid girls. I guess I'll have to save them!"  
  
Sailor Uranus decided to break the ice and attack first.  
"World Shaking!" the ball of magical energy impacted into the... the 'thing' with a spray of oily flesh, but even as they looked it grew back from all of the damage.  
  
"Um, perhaps not!" Ranma sweatdropped, at the amount of raw power, that had been used for that attack. He had disregarded them because they didn't tap into the Shadow Realm, but now he saw that they tapped into a lesser but quite powerful source of power, the planets. But, even then, as he looked at the monster, it was obvious that this, um, thing would be impossible or very difficult for them to deal with.  
  
The sailors, at a silent command from their leader, the sailor scouts let out with their attacks simultaneously.  
"Moon Therapy Kiss!" screamed Sailor Moon, to purge evil from the thing.  
"Mars Flare Sniper!" shouted Sailor Mars, to fry it to a crisp.  
"Shabon Spray!" shouted Sailor Mercury.  
"Venus Love-me Chain!" screamed Sailor Venus, to ensnare it.  
"Jupiter Oak Revolution!" shouted Sailor Jupiter throwing a ball of electrical energy at the beast.  
"World Shaking!" shouted Sailor Uranus, to blow it to bits.  
"Deep Submerge!" screamed Sailor Neptune, to drown it.  
The attacks flew towards the monster and were neutralized.  
The Moon Therapy Kiss, and the Shabon Spray, just dissipated into magical mist. The Mars Flame Sniper lost its power, and burnt itself out in the air. The Venus Love-me Chain just went right through it. The World Shaking and Deep Submerge were deflected, and the Jupiter Oak Revolution, was grounded!  
The frightened Sailors attempted to fall back and come up with another plan, but the monster was destroying more and more things; and buildings.  
  
Ranma was still on his roof; the monster hadn't reached the building yet. Ranma tried to come up with an idea to help the Sailor Scouts, but nothing came up, except...  
"Heh, heh. I just got a wicked idea," Ranma chuckled like a kid with a new toy. "This is gonna to be so much fun!"  
  
The Sailors were seeing their lives flash before their eyes as a giant tendril of black, oily flesh, lashed out at them. Until it slammed into a clear, golden barrier. The Sailors looked curiously at the barrier, as the monster at the other side screamed as it lashed out against the barrier with little or no success.  
"Great move, Sailor Moon," exclaimed Sailor Jupiter.  
"Uh, guys. I didn't do anything!" admitted Sailor Moon.  
Then a deep voice could be heard above them from a floating figure covered in an aura of gold. He wore long black hair in a loose ponytail, held by a gold ornament, and wore an armored helm, shin guards and bracers, but under those was a Chinese silk shirt and kung-fu pants, that were quite baggy, but didn't hide his shape too much. "Halt, foul demon. I the Golden Heart of Tokyo, will strike thee down!" Lightening flash behind him for effect, despite the fact that there were no clouds.  
The Sailors sweatdropped when they saw the very same figure laughing so hard he feel to the ground, continuing to laugh like a lunatic.  
Finally, he managed to calm down and take the monster seriously, "Kami, you are ugly, with a capital 'ugly!'"  
The monster screamed again and lashed out with tendrils at him. Once again the impacted harmlessly against a golden, clear barrier.  
"Alright, time to deal with you!" Ranma drew a card from his costume's folds. "I summon the mighty Summoned Skull!" the card glowed yellow and exploded outward as a mist made of energy, it took the form of a tall humanoid demon with white bones, purple flesh and blue wings.  
The sailors could do nothing but watch with a degree of awe as the Golden Heart summoned an incredible monster from a slip of paper.  
"Summoned Skull attack with lightening attack!" shouted Ranma.   
The demon shot incredible amounts of electrical energy at the beast; who was incapable of grounding enough of it before it was, very slowly and painfully fried.   
Ranma looked at the thing, still surviving and felt a bit of pity for the tenacious beast. He reached out with his hand and turned Summoned Skull back into a card that flew into his hand, and also carded the downed monster. He released the barrier protecting the Scouts and vanished in a flash of multicolored light, leaving seven astonished Sailor Scouts.  
  
Ranma reappeared in his room and in his normal apparel, laughing madly and rolling on the floor. 


	4. Wild Sand Chapter 3

Wild Sand Chapter 3  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 3  
  
Ranma was lying on his bed. He had just come back from Juuban. As soon as he was back, he nearly choked on his own tongue, laughing. Gold Heart of Tokyo, just thinking of it made him chuckle.  
He took on a more serious disposition, and took out a card from his sub-space pocket.  
The card depicted a large gooey monster with face-like imprints covering its black, oily surface. It's attack and defense points were 0 and 0. Its title was Animated Ooze, a zombie type. Upon seeing it's special ability, Ranma couldn't help but smile.  
He put the card back into his sub-space pocket and began to try to get some sleep. As he lay on his futon, his sleepy mind came up with a memory of his mother telling him of some of the properties of some of his new deck:  
"As you know there are six types of monster in Duel Monsters," his mother stated. Her voice sure and strong: with pride. "Wind; earth; light; dark; fire and water. There are numerous sub-types, fiends, spell-casters, dragons, and so forth. I find that a truly successful deck is a deck with a wide array of these cards. Of all of the cards in Duel Monsters, the God cards are the best and most devastatingly powerful. I have one such card. A card so rare and powerful, that I have told no one about my possessing it, until now. The card is called the God of Osiris Card, with an attack and defense of a thousand multiplied by the number of cards in the player's hand. And every time an enemy opponent sends out a monster with less than 1900 attack points, it is destroyed."  
She expertly took the fabled card from the top of her pile and showed it's awesome black and red dragon visage to her son. She then took cards from the top of the deck and told Ranma of each of them.  
"The wind type, Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, has attack points of 1400 and defence points of 1200. This creature has a fireball attack that is useful against those that are vulnerable to flames, however, machine types are more or less immune to fire and magic attacks, so be careful when and who you use it against, otherwise it does good in a pinch.  
"The light type, Mystical Elf has attack points of 800 and defence points of 2000. She is wonderfully flexible strategically and defensively, however there is little sense in using her in attack mode, unless something like Sword and Shield is used on her.  
"The light type, Ancient Elf has attack points of 1450 and defence points of 1200. Another Elven monster, similar, yet remarkably different: from the Mystic Elf. This creature is best used offensively rather than defensively, yet is still magically capable as the Mystic Elf. It is best to use these together in a combo with heavy-duty enhancements.  
"The light type, Time Wizard has attack points of 500 and defence points of 400. This card is wonderfully useful in the fact it can either win the game for you or obliterate the forces you have on the field. Its attack is a game of chance. If you are lucky the entire stadium in subjected to a time warp which ages everything by 1000 years. If your not lucky, all of your monsters are destroyed and half of their attack points are deducted from your life-points. Used well this card can enhance you forces and since few monsters can survive such a time distortion it is exceptionally helpful, but only in desperate circumstances!  
"The earth type, Silver Fang has attack points of 1200 and defence points of 800. It is quite weak but there are a few strategies that can utilise it. It can be of great help.  
"The fire type, Flame Swordsman has attack points of 1800 and defence points of 1600. It is useful as a monster in many ways, as it can get juiced up with various cards, such as Salamandra, which raises its attack points by 800. A really useful card to use throughout a game, as are many cards.  
"The dark type, Magical Ghost has attack points of 1300 and defence points of 1400. As it is a ghost type it can utilise many Genie magic cards, such as Ancient Lamp.  
"The dark type, Mystic Clown has attack points of 1500 and defence points of 1000. It has just enough power to survive for you to enhance it with, say, Sword of Dark Destruction, using that in combo with Tweedledum and Tweedledee is a good strategy, powering up two dark types.  
"The dark type, Dark Monster has attack points of 2200 and defence points of 2500. This card is best in defence but is wicked in offence, particularly if enhanced with the strategy I mentioned for Mystic Clown and its magic card combo.  
"The dark type, Curse of Dragon has attack points of 2000 and defence points of 1500. A multipurpose monster, good in defence, better in offence, capable of fusing with Gaia the Fierce Knight to become Gaia the Dragon Champion.  
"The dark type, Dark Magician has attack points of 2500 and defence points of 2100. This card is one of the best cards, in my opinion. Although it is by far not the strongest, it is very strong offensively and defensively, compared to the average Duel Monster.  
"The dark type, Sword Stalker has attack points of 2400 and defence points of 1800. This monster has an effect attached to it. It collects the wasted life force of fallen allies and uses that power to boost its attack points.  
"The dark type, Summoned Skull has attack points of 2500 and defence points of 1200. Its electrical attack is impressive and devastating, especially is water is present to conduct the electricity better, giving a 500 points boost.  
"The dark type, Witty Phantom has attack points of 1400 and defence points of 1300. Not particularly useful, but a faithful card that is good for weak opponents and sacrifices.  
"Okay, magic cards. Enhancers are the most useful magic cards, and most magic cards are enhancers, such as:   
"Sword of Dark Destruction is a dark type enhancer by 500 attack points. Salamandra enhances fire sword attacks by 800; Invigoration boosts any monster by 200 attack points; Book of Sacred Arts raises spell-caster subtype monsters by 300 attack and defence points and Horn of the Unicorn enhances a monsters attack points by 600.  
"However other useful magic cards are those that effect the field or summon monsters or cards or even counteract other magic cards. Such cards are like:  
"The magic card, Swords of Revealing Light freezes enemy monsters for three turns and bathes the field in brilliantly bright light. The magic card, Reborn the Monster resurrects a fallen monster from either opponent's graveyard. The magic card, Rebirth resurrects a fallen allied monster. Polyerisation fuses two compatible monsters together. Change of Heart takes control of a monster for one turn. Black Hole destroys all monsters on the field. De-spell negates one unused magic card. Tweedledum and Tweedledee duplicates the powers / properties of a magic card. This is a constant magic card and will remains on the field unless it is destroyed or taken out of play."  
Nodaka paused for a moment to take a sip of tea.  
"The magic cards, however can do only so much for you. As you can activate magic cards, your opponent must be made to activate trap cards. In many cases, trap cards are, in some ways, more useful than magic cards, having greater effects over greater areas or more focused in their abilities. I find trap cards quite useful and have a good varied selection, such as:  
"Mirror Force which reflects an enemy attack, and destroys the enemy monsters with a lower attack / defence point rating than the attack. Spell Binding Circle traps an attacking monster and diverts energy attacks, from the enemy to strike that monster. Kunai with chain traps and attacking monster and once activated becomes an equipment magic card that raises the attack points of the monster using it by 500. Fissure captures and destroys an attacking enemy monster in a fissure. Negate, negates any attack against the player for one turn. Call of the Haunted raises fallen friendly monsters, but as zombies. And Gorgon's Eyes turns attacking monsters in to stone.  
"Lastly, but not least, are my rarest and most powerful cards. I believe you are familiar with The God of Osiris." She pointed to the card and took another sip of her tea as her son nodded sharply.  
"Well I also have the three parts of the Gate Guardian, Shuiji, Kanejin and Sanga. The attack and defence of each is 2000/1900, however if all are assembled then they become the Gate Guardian with attack and defence points of 3750/3400. Very few monsters or strategies can defeat a Gate Guardian."  
Ranma smiled in the real world. He used his mother's wisdom well, using the Gate Guardian against Saffron, and then making it even more powerful, using the fusion techniques she described.  
He was still smiling as he was swept away by his dreams  
  
The next day, he woke up without a drop of water on him and without breasts. He usually liked water, despite the curse. But whenever Akane 'kindly' woke him up with ice cold water, he developed an aversion to going near it in the morning, especially if it was in the hands of a certain tomboy, whose name will go unsaid. Akane!  
He took his blankets off him and sat up. He was wearing his vest and sweatpants, both of which, he was unpleased to say, were rank!  
He quickly got changed and washed using his magic. He was aware that Kasumi knew he was back. And since girls talk...  
"Ranma no baka!" screamed Akane from outside the door, a second before she broke it down. Ranma then calmly breezed past her. Akane was slightly more enraged that he ignored her and followed him downstairs.  
  
"Ranma no Hentai!"  
An innocent vase ate mallet.  
"Ranma no Baka!"  
Now, a window;  
"Stand still!"  
A small squeal and a splattering sound. P-Chan, aka Royoga, aka lost boy, was bashed into piggy paste.  
"Oh, P-Chan. Ranma. It's all your fault!"  
  
Nabiki and Kasumi could only stare dumbfounded as Ranma walked into the kitchen, Akane unsuccessfully trying to hit him, but succeeding in destroying everything else in sight.  
Ranma just calmly took a sandwich, instants before the rest were mashed, took his bookbag and bento, and walked out the front door. All the time, dodging Akane with little, or no, effort.  
  
Ranma walked cheerfully along the top of the canal fence. His bookbag bumping gently against him as he moved, the scent of summer blooms in the air. Ah, life didn't get any better than this.  
It was in that moment: a tall; green-haired women, in a fuku, appeared the fence in front of him and levelled a staff at him. Before he could react, a bolt of purple energy shot towards him, as fast as its name reached his ears.   
"Dead Scream."  
  
Everything was all fuzzy, his eyes weren't working properly: things looked blurry. He heard voices.   
"Taya. He's waking up!" said a youthful voice. Ranma's eyes could make out a figure crouch above him, with blonde hair and a green jacket.  
"Quiet, Joey!" another voice, feminine, and again young. He saw another figure crouch next to him: a girl in a creamy-white shirt, a blue mini-skirt and pink vest, she had brown hair.  
"Yeah, Joey!" this voice was gruff, a brotherly taunt. It came from a figure just within his sight, a tall boy with dark brown hair, in a tan trench coat.  
"Ah, shaddup, Tristan!" again form the green-jacket boy.  
"Guys!" Kami, that voice. It was soft and gentle, nothing particularly threatening, but to one with such developed senses, he could feel the palatable taste of, it was impossible, another Millennium Puzzle.  
In an instant, Ranma pooled his Chi resources and sat up. His eyes realigned, and refocused, in seconds, seconds used to get some distance between him and them, by the use of a few back-flips.  
They all recoiled at his sudden movement, and stared at him.  
Ranma shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs and looked at them again. One of them, Joey, was blonde and showed some promise as a fighter. Tristan also had potential. The girl, Taya, he assumed, was a dancer, probably had quite some potential as a martial artist. Finally, there was a small, oddly haired, boy, along with a tall white haired boy, both had Millennium Items, the Puzzle and Ring.  
Ranma felt his chest. His item was present, but cloaked, invisible.  
The small boy smiled and walked up to him, holding out his hand in friendship. "Hiya. I'm Yugi. Who are you?"  
"Um, I'm Ranma," Ranma couldn't contain his curiosity and confusion. "How the Hell, do you have the Millennium Puzzle? And that other boy, he has the Millennium Ring! It isn't possible!"  
  
Yugi blinked at the tall, black-haired boy. Ten minutes ago, seconds after he defeated the evil soul that possessed Bakura in a Shadow Game, the boy feel from the sky. Odd as it was, that was nothing in comparison to the fact that he was surrounded in purple energy, which dissipated quickly after he landed.  
What he really didn't understand about the boy was why he was saying that the Millennium Items were impossible! Second to that was why he reacted to the people who tried to help him!  
He decided to humour the obviously confused boy. "My Grandpa gave it to my but it was in pieces and..."  
  
"And you solved the puzzle making it into a single pyramid-shaped millennium Item!" Ranma finished it for him. "That's the same as it was for me!"  
"Huh?" the boy, Yugi, was obviously as confused as Ranma. So, he to decided to humour him, by demonstration.  
Ranma took a neutral stance, calm and relaxed, his hand in front of his chest. He muttered loudly for Yugi's benefit. The Fused Item: decloaked.  
All present gasped, except for Ranma, of course!  
"Um, perhaps I should start at the beginning?"  
Suddenly a scream of anguish reached their ears.  
  
Mai could only stare in shock as her Harpy Ladies were destroyed.  
"Now you know why all fear the night," a dark voice from the other side of the stadium chuckled nastily. His face; was obscured; by a mist of pitch-black darkness, that enshrouded his entire field. "Now, hand over your star chips. Loser!"  
She moaned as she pressed the clip in her duelling glove to release all of her chips. They scattered all over, mirroring her despair at losing.  
On the darkened field: the shroud dissipated, to reveal a giant of a man on the other podium. He had markings on his face were akin to that of a clown and he was about, just less than the height of two men. He wore a navy trench coat and had two gigantic duelling gloves on his hands.  
"I guess you just 'panicked,' heh, Mai!" he laughed as he came down the motorised platform and came round the stadium. He had just reached her, when a group of people came from the forest, into the clearing where the stadium was situated.  
"Mai, Are you okay?" Yugi shouted in concern. The group of people stopping short of Mai, as her suddenly frail form was over shadowed by an intimidating man.  
"Your too late," Mai whispered in return. She didn't want him, to see her, this weak. Her normally sharp eyes didn't even notice Ranma's unfamiliar figure.  
"Ha. More fresh meat!" laughed the monstrous man.  
"What kind of man are ya? Pickin' on a girl like that!" roared Ranma.  
Mai's head snapped up and saw Ranma. She looked questioningly at Yugi, who gave a little shrug in return.  
The large man just laughed. "I am the best Eliminator you'll find little boy. My name is Panik. My job is to duel and defeat weak little duellists, like you and your friends; and make you panic! I really like my job," he let off a peal of laughter.  
Ranma bowed his head and suddenly smiled, "Well, if you're the best, let's duel!"  
"Where's your star chips?" he smiled cruelly.  
Ranma looked puzzled for a moment and then looked at the podium Mai used. The platform was now at ground level and he could see that somehow a single star-shaped golden thing was wedged in between to panels of metal. He assumed that was a star chip.  
He put one hand behind his back and transported the small item into his hand. His new friends saw what happened, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. He held out the chip silently. The man, Panik nodded and made his way to the red podium, while Ranma used the blue podium.  
  
They went up, transported by the elevating platforms. Ranma put his deck down and took his hand, the top five cards from the top.  
Panik smiled awfully and drew his hand.  
Ranma broke the silence, "Panik if I win, you give Mai's chips back. If I lose you get my chip."  
"Not enough, little boy!"  
Ranma gritted his teeth, "How about this, If you win, any card I used during the duel you can get!"  
"Alright" Panik smirked cruelly, confident in his duelling prowess.  
"Let's Duel," they shouted simultaneously.  
  
Ranma smiled as he saw his hand. He had Mystic Elf (800/2000), Ancient Elf (1450/1200), Animated Ooze, Perfect Balance and Invigoration magic cards.  
Panik smirked even more at Ranma. "Here, my impetuous friend. You have bet much more than a star chip, or a mere card. You bet your life!" he laughed and pressed a button of a pop-out console.   
At the edge of the stadium, two flame-throwers appeared and aimed themselves at Ranma. They spat out a long rope of flame that headed towards Ranma.   
He calmly pointed his hand at one of the flame-throwers and let loose a small Chi bolt, he quickly repeated the action to the other flame-thrower, before the first one was half-way towards the first flame-thrower. He smoothly then resumed his previous neutral stance on the podium, scrutinising his cards as if nothing happened. Then the bolts hit.  
  
Both Panik and the group of people could only watch as Ranma blurred and sent two small spheres of blue energy at the nozzles of the flame-throwers. When the two hit their respective flame-throwers, there was a loud boom as two controlled explosions took place. When the smoke cleared, there were no remains of the flame-throwing nozzles, just a crater of melted metal and plastic.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes at Panik. "Threaten me again and I'll be aiming at your head!"  
Panik was shaking as he drew his chosen card from his hand, but grew more confident and steady, as his belief of his being a superior duellist asserted itself. "Behold the dark cloak of the Castle of Dark Illusion!"  
Above one of the square in his field, a plume of golden sparks announced the appearance of a largish floating castle. It was like it was created by making towers of yellow play-dough on top of a stand, with a large yellow and black collar. With the towers being twisted by some gigantic hand. From the bottom of it grew 'roots' of deformed towers. From under the structure, a shadow grew, like a dark cloud. It consumed Panik's entire field. (920/1930) It points rose as it gained a field power bonus.  
"Ha. Do you see! You cannot see any monster I summon, and I can attack your without anything stopping me! And look, with this being night time, my Castle of Dark Illusion is gaining a field power bonus. And do not think of trying to get any field power bonuses of your own, just as the shadow blocks the light from above, it blocks the field power form the ground below! Only the night gives bonuses here!"   
With fear, comes the retreat of reason and logic, essentials in Duel Monsters. Ranma display of destroying the flame-throwers; made Panik very fearful, despite his bolstered confidence. This slip up was a mix of overconfidence and residual fear, and Ranma always used his enemies' periods of weakness to his advantage.  
  
Ranma looked at the duellist and placed down two cards. A monster card, facedown, in defence mode, along with a magic card, Perfect balance.  
"Well, Panic, if I can't get any field power bonuses, then neither are you. My magic card Perfect Balance makes it so that no field has the ability to give field power in this game, that includes the night!" Ranma smiled at him.  
  
Panik frowned and gritted his teeth at the young upstart. He placed a monster card down in attack mode and finished his turn.  
He would make this young fool beg for forgiveness, he vowed to himself.  
  
Ranma put down his newly drawn card, Unrevealing Haze, and placed his now disguised Mystic Elf into attack mode, while also putting down Ancient Elf down in attack mode. He drew two new cards, Books of Sacred Arts and Polyerisation. He now had those two along with Invigoration, Spellbinding Circle and Animated Ooze.  
He placed down Animated Ooze in attack mode and was about to place Spellbinding Circle, when...  
  
"Hurry up, you coward! Aren't you going to try to break through my wall of shadows? Do you think I'm weak, huh?" roared Panik angrily. The little punk wasn't taking him nearly seriously enough.  
  
Ranma replied quietly and calmly. "I will not attack until I wish to do so. You play for yourself and keep your nose out of my business. But if you really want me to attack you..." A gap appeared in the pure white fog of his field, it revealed Animated Ooze (0/0). "...Then let me humour you. Animated Ooze, use your special ability!"  
Panik could only gasp and the oily mound of... something, grew a tendril, which it drove into the ground. Instants later, it appeared from right under his revealed Barroks, (1380/1530) and split into a thousand strands which ensnared his Barroks. The demonic Duel Monster; was dragged underground. It reappeared, still dragged by the tendril, and was sucked inside the oily mass, it's outline barely visible, energy flying from it into the unseen parts of Ranma's field.  
"Wha?" asked Panic.  
"What you have just seen is the special ability of my Animated Ooze, Internal Symbiosis. Animated Ooze can attack through any barrier, navigate a course to bypass, any and all defences, and it doesn't activate any trap cards. When it ensnares an enemy monster, all friendly monsters, already out, get an equal share of its' attack and defence points. Even if it destroyed, Animated Ooze can come back from the dead after two turns. Although it can't attack directly, if its enemy is absorbed, then the foe cannot attack or defend. It is completely paralysed." Although Panik explained too much of his own strategies to Ranma, Ranma was not worried about making the same mistake. Animated Ooze isn't unstoppable, but it is very close to it.   
Although if he knew, if it was destroyed Ranma would lose the power up and Panik wouldn't lose life-points from his Barroks destruction, then Panik would gain an upper edge, that could turn things for his favour. Ranma didn't want that.  
  
"Yugi, have you ever seen a monster like that?" asked Joey of his smaller friend.  
"Joey, I haven't seen anyone play like Ranma does or seen any card called Animated Ooze! It seems that he is using Panik's own tactics against him." Yugi answered his friend as honestly as he could, without revealing what he had seen when he used his Puzzles magic to have a peak at Ranma's board. Yugi guessed that Ranma allowed him to do so. "Ranma is building up something. You heard when he said that all his friendly monsters gained a power boost for every monster ensnared. If you ask me, he is getting ready to reveal his aces, and I don't think that Panik can do anything about it!"  
  
Panik was, well, panicking. He put down Dark Chimera into defence mode and waited, and drew another useless magic card. He drew and drew but couldn't find a decent card to help him. If only he could get rid of Ranma's unrevealing Haze card. A card came to mind, and Panik began to smile behind his shroud of darkness.  
  
Ranma's amazing eyesight: allowed him a glimpse of Panik's smile through the shadowy fog. Panik had something coming. Ranma could feel it.  
He placed down Book of Sacred Arts magic card, and a monster card, in attack mode. He then ordered Animated Ooze to consume another of Panik's monsters.  
  
Panik could only look with absolute hatred at both the duellist, and the monster, as his Dark Chimera; was taken by a large oily, black tendril. He drew another card. When he drew his attention to it, he felt victory close at hand, or at least a better understanding of what Ranma was planning.  
"Go, Reaper of the Cards!"  
A floating; cloaked and cowled figure with a scythe and a band of Duel Monster cards around its body; flew from it's summoning square, towards Ranma's side of the stadium. It raised its scythe and slashed at the mist.  
The mist in it's entirety, dissipated, leaving the field open.  
Panik scrutinised it, and saw the horribly familiar Animated Ooze monster. Beside it were Mystic Elf, Ancient Elf, and Dark Magician. He used his console to check their power readings, and nearly got a heart attack.  
  
Ranma smiled at the Reaper of the Cards. He knew that Panik would have one of those... things about. He saw Panik scanning his field, and smiled more. Due to Animated Ooze, the monsters gained much more power than normal, but also it was due to the Book of Sacred Arts. To elaborate, Mystic Elf had 2026 attack points 3418 defence, just as Ancient Elf was at 2676/2618 and Dark Magician was at 3336/3053. Each of them was super powerful.  
"Dark Magician. Deal with that Reaper of the Cards! Dark Magic Attack" shouted Ranma. From Dark Magician's out stretched hand shot a fabulous bolt of white and purple energy that hit the Reaper of the Cards, who had not yet retreated to the darkness. The dark type monster was obliterated and in that single action, Panik's life-points went down from 2000 to 544.  
  
Panik looked on in shock, as did the others. The shear power in that single attack was nearly enough to end the duel, and was done so lightly.  
Panik decided to go on the defensive. He looked at his hand. He had two cards that might be of use. Dark Imp (1500/1900), and Chaos Shield.  
He put down Dark Imp, and Chaos Shield. He merged Chaos Shield with his Castle of Dark Illusion, creating an impenetrable shield around his Dark Imp. His strategy was to use the period of safety to power up his Dark Imp to contend with Ranma's monsters, or until he drew a more powerful monster, capable of helping.  
  
Ranma observed Panik's lack of offensive action throughout his turn. He didn't allow himself to see through the shroud and ruin the surprise. Instead, he took his facedown Polyerisation card and merged the two elves, the Mystic and Ancient, into the Elven Sage (4700/6000). A tall and imposing figure in a pastel blue cloak, with gold and silver borders and a long necklace of sapphires and diamonds from its neck, the face obscured by a cowl.  
"Since the beginning of this match, I have been making my Mystic Elf chant a spell, when I summoned the Ancient Elf, I made him chant the self-same spell. Now their spell has reached fruition, now that they are one, the spell can call forth, all of their combined power. Elven Sage, channel your energies into Dark Magician!" stated Ranma, to everyone present.  
From the pastel form, an aura of cerulean blue shot from around it and flowed like water into a purple aura around the Dark Magician (8036/9053). Its hair glowed white with the power, it grew much taller, it's suit became white where it was black and blue where it was purple and its eyes glowed with sheer power.  
  
Yugi gasped at the shear power of the supercharged Dark Magician.  
Mai also gaped. "It's more powerful than any card I have ever seen!"  
Joey just looked at it dumbfounded.  
Bakura frowned at the Dark Magician. To create such a powerful monster, Ranma must truly a gifted duellist.  
  
Panik could only look in shock at the tall white and blue figure. He looked at the stats of his monster and castle, and had a sinking feeling.  
  
Ranma smiled and whispered, "Dark magic attack."  
The tall figure held out its hand and pointed a finger forward. From that small finger grew an ever-expanding sphere of purple energy, with white lightening crackling around it. It shot forward and all was white.  
  
Panik and all the others turned their eyes, the light hurting their eyes; all, that is except for Ranma.  
  
The aftermath was silence, pure silence. Panik's life-points were at 0 and Ranma's were still at 2000. The Holo-field was cleared and Panik was staring disbelieving, at his life-point meter.  
Slowly but surely, he became angry, mad, insanely so. "I may have lost the duel, Ranma, but I can still eliminate you!" he screamed and punched a button, on a pop-out console, too hard, causing it to break.  
Around the stadium, flame-throwers came out of hidden compartments and ignited. Flame-throwers from the front of Panik's podium shot directly at Ranma.  
Soon the entire stadium was in the centre of a massive flame-tornado.  
  
Yugi and the others were a good distance away, the Puzzle shielding them all from the intense heat.  
Tristan could only say one thing. "Ranma's toast!"  
  
Inside the tornado, Ranma faced a dumbfounded Panik.  
"You... survived!"  
Ranma smiled and began. "Of course I did. Do you think a little fire would have hurt me? Kami, you are really ignorant of who I am... aren't you? Well, let me tell you. I am your Oblivion!" He shouted and thrust his hand out at Panik.   
The image of the bullying, would-be murderer duellist shattered like glass and faded. His body disappearing, and his cards flew through the air to Ranma's hand.  
Ranma looked at the deck and sensed some decent cards that he could use. He smacked his head, and muttered 'stupid.' He held out his hand again and Mai's star chips flew to his hand from the pile of clothing that was once Panik. Ranma had an idea and summoned ten of the remaining chips; that were on Panik's giant duelling gloves, along with one of his gloves, which he resized.  
Ranma held his arm above his head and made a counteracting wind to undo the raging fiery tornado.  
  
Shortly, Ranma is in front of the group of questioning people.  
"Here you go," he said handing the stolen star chips to a shocked Mai's hand.  
"How'd ya do that?"   
"Where do you get a Animated Ooze?"   
"Who are you?"  
Ranma calmed them down with some placating gestures, "Hey, hey. I'll tell ya!"  
  
Later they were all around a campfire, eating some canned soup. They had heard, all, of Ranma's unbelievable story, just as he listened to their story. In the end they both trusted each the other to take the stories at face value.  
Joey took another spoonful of soup and burst out. "I can't take it any more. If I have any more of that leak soup, I'm gonna string a leak!" He calmed down and slumped dejectedly. "If only I had a cheeseburger!"  
"Here you go," said Ranma as he passed a small box over to Joey.  
Joey looked at the box and read the lettering around it. "McDonald's. How do ya have a McDonald's on ya in a place like this?" he ranted.  
"Simple. I conjured it," Ranma went back to his soup.  
"Hey, Ranma. Think you could conjure some steak?" asked Tristan  
"Sure," Ranma held his hands out palm-up and conjured a plate with a red steak on it. "I hope you like it rare!"  
"I love it rare! Thanks Ranma!" said Tristan as Ranma passed him the plate.  
"Salad. Please. Need salad!" groaned the girls in unison.  
Ranma obliged and handed the two bowls to them.  
"Ranma, may I get a small coke and a cheese burger?" asked Yugi tentatively.  
"Yes, and may I please have a large coke and an Okonomiyaki?" asked Bakura gently.  
Ranma looked at them for a while and then stood up, giving them and unreadable expression. "Come with me, please."  
The two followed him, dumbfounded as to his odd behaviour.  
They gathered around the same tree stump that Yugi and Dark Bakura battled before they banished his spirit to the Graveyard.  
He calmly asked them. "Are you, really, incapable of conjuring?"  
They both nodded.  
"You mean you have had your items much longer than I and you are incapable of summoning a coke!"  
Again, they nodded.  
"That's it you needed training! Pronto!"  
The two teenagers saw Ranma's sensei-face and felt very, very irrationally frightened. 


	5. Wild Sand Chapter 4

Wild Sand Chapter 4  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 4  
  
Over the next few days, Ranma trained Yugi and Bakura in their Millennium Items powers, until they gradually became aware of the true potential power contained in each. He frowned at the egomaniac, Seto Kaiba, as he demolished Joey's confidence as a duellist. He and Yugi co-coached Joey in his battle with Bones, in the spooky graveyard stadium. He observed, as the Paradox brothers were defeated, and he was not surprised, but perhaps a little startled, to see another Gate Guardian, after all it was a version of his own, just like the Millennium Items.   
By teaching the two boys, he learnt a few things himself. He learnt a few things straight off: although he could use his powers in conjunction with Yugi or Bakura, he himself could not use their Items or their magic. He assumed that each dimensions set of Millennium Items must be only able to be used by an inhabitant of that particular dimension. He also assumed that it could be a fail-safe mechanism so that someone with Shadow Realm Godhood in one dimension doesn't try to get Godhood in another dimension, and hence become unfairly powerful.  
However this was something that Pegasus himself was completely ignorant of.  
  
Maximillion Pegasus, multi-billionaire creator of Duel Monsters, president of Industrial Illusions, and possessor of the Millennium Eye, was sipping at his fruit juice. He raised the champagne glass to his lips and took a gentle mouthful. He placed the glass back down on the table, again gently. His mood however was anything but gentle.  
This boy, he thought angrily. This possessor of another Millennium Item, he is teaching them far too much about their items. His coaching skills are also formidable. If I allowed him into the castle, then I could have a very big problem. He could coach little Yugi-boy and Bakura into being quite formidable with their Items, perhaps too formidable for me to deal with! And his own Item makes him particularly dangerous. He must be put out of the way, but how?  
Pegasus's chief of security, Croquet, came into the room and walked up respectfully to the brooding Pegasus.  
"Sir. Seto Kaiba has been spotted in the dungeons!" he said quietly in his humble hoarse voice.  
"Once again Croquet, You tell me something I already know..." replied Pegasus testily, until he stopped suddenly and thought of the possibilities. "Yes, yes, that just might work!" he murmured to himself.  
Pegasus threw his head back and laughed, full and heartily.  
  
Ranma sneezed and muttered to himself about people who talk about other people behind their backs.  
He, Joey and Yugi had all the ten starchips, each that they needed for entry to the castle.   
Presently, they were all walking towards the castle, Ranma in the lead of the procession. That was until he stopped suddenly, causing them to fall on top of each other like dominoes. Only Ranma still stood an apologetic smile on his face. "Ha, ha!" Well, perhaps not apologetic!  
Joey looked up angrily from his place on the dirt road. "What ya stop for?"  
Ranma crossed his arms and smiled. "Look behind you."  
The entire gang did, and looked at the way they had come from. They strained their ears and heard a faint whistling noise in the distance. Suddenly from around the bend came a familiar figure.   
"Mai!" exclaimed Yugi.  
Mai smiled gently at the group. "Nice to see ya. How have you been doing?"  
Ranma laughed gently and replied. "Oh nothing special. We got trapped in a cave a 'top duellist' and had to fight the Paradox brothers to get out. Ya' know, the usual!"  
Mai frowned and chewed absently at his bottom lip. "I've heard of them. Quite tough weren't they?"  
Ranma gestured towards Yugi and Joey. "Ask them, I was only spectatin'."  
Mai blinked. She had assumed that Ranma could defeat even those twisted people, Para and Dox, but for Yugi and Joey to have done it made her personnel opinion of them rise. True, however she believed that Yugi could defeat Para or Dox one on one, but it the rumours about their labyrinth Stadium were true then alone, even he, would have lost.  
Joey, not-to subtly, showed off his ten starchips.  
Mai smiled. "I take it your all going to the castle! Mind if I tag along." She too demonstrated a full set of starchips.  
"Sure Mai!" replied Bakura enthusiastically. He enjoyed Mai's unique and realistic, if a little frivolous, view on life. He also like seeing Ranma's amusing reaction, to her puppy-dog eyes, a secret weapon that Ranma was particularly susceptible to.  
All of them were in complete agreement. And they set of once more towards the castle.  
  
Ranma was the first to see the castle. He and Yugi were up front discussing duelling strategies, when it caught his eye.  
It was by no means a small structure. It was built on the plateau of a mountain and had large walls and towers, in the style of English castles, with battlements to boot! The golden rock: was highlighted, by the overhead sun, obliterating all, but a few, shadows. You would never have assumed that such a dark power lay within, while it looked so radiant!  
The whole gang, were taken in by its momentary beauty. The spell was broken as they walked further up the gigantic stairs and squinted harder, they saw a shadow that shouldn't have been. And as they came ever closer, they finally distinguished the shadow as a boy slightly older than Joey.  
"Kaiba!" spat Joey, still remarkably bitter of his humiliating defeat at the hands of Seto Kaiba. He looked hatefully at the elder Kaiba brother.  
Soon the entire gang was up at the top of the almost never-ending steps, and facing Seto Kaiba.  
He was tall with brown hair and steely eyes; his arms crossed at his chest, his large steel briefcase at his feet, his eyes' riveted on one of the gangs' members. He had a stern look on his face and fire in eyes.  
Yugi was the first to break the ice. "Hello, Kaiba. I thought you were going to challenge Pegasus!"  
Kaiba frowned. "I was going to, but now I have to play a sick game of his or I'll never get to wipe that damned smirk off his face!" his eye resettled on Ranma. "I challenge you, Ranna!"  
Ranma gave a glare, "Ranma. It's 'Ranma'!"  
Kaiba waved wave his hand with an air of dismissive arrogance, "Yeah, whatever. Let's get this duel on the road."  
  
Ranma and Kaiba faced each other on the parapets at the top of one of the castle walls, right next to a shear cliff leading to the sea surrounding the island.  
They consulted each other and set the figure of starchips to be wagered at 5.  
Then they faced each other, Ranma with an arrogant smirk and Kaiba with a frosty glare. The said simultaneously, "Let's duel!"  
Ranma was flung an odd disk-like contraption, from Kaiba, who himself was putting on part of it and ready to throw the saucer-shaped part.  
Ranma put it on with little difficulty, his memories of Joey's one-time use of the device, a portable Holo-emitter thingy, aiding his in an understanding of the device.  
Both duellists slipped their shuffled decks into the deck recognition system, where a seven-figure display showed both of them that they were at 2000 life-points each.  
Kaiba started off by summoning Reokoshin, a large, bipedal purple lizard-like creature, but thank the Kami, not remotely like Barney.  
Ranma looked at his disk, on it was his hand. He had put Unrevealing Haze magic card down, face-up, ready to activate. Also he had put down Dark Magician (2500/2100) facedown; Cloak of the Mystic also facedown; Mirror Force, facedown and finally Eye of Truth, facedown.  
He had always liked the Cloak of the Mystic card for its usefulness, it's instant enhancement of 1 spell-caster type monster, by 500 in both attack and defence, and giving the same monster an added 200/200 for each monster in the graveyards. However the monster in question had to be killed by Ranma, a sacrificed monster wouldn't give any bonus, which was annoying at times.  
He threw the spinning emitter away, and watched as glowing pinpricks of golden light spun up from it, like a mini tornado of energy. Not unlike my Beta-ha-fu Inferuno, thought Ranma, absently. Sheets of holographic visuals appeared before him, all four showing his hand's cards.  
A mist formed out of the pinpricks and consumed the area around the disk, the 'field'.  
Seto doesn't look too pleased by that! Thought Ranma smugly. Some of that smugness was rubbed off when Kaiba summoned another monster, Battle Ox (1700/1000) and promptly added to its power with Invigoration, to put it at 1900/1000. Ranma didn't want Kaiba to get too powerful, however his strategy had no room for any culling.  
Ranma activated the Eye of Truth. "Well Kaiba. Let us have a sneak peak at your hand, shall I do the honours?" he threw down the disk once more. Making the mist reappear and a beam of light hit the cards in Kaiba's holographic hand. Each turned around. Sword Stalker (2000/1600,); Battle Ox (1700/1000,); Ancient Lamp; and finally a Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500.)  
Ranma drew a new card, Book of Sacred Arts and absently placed it facedown.  
Ranma frowned thoughtfully at the Dragon. Yugi had already told him of his fight with Kaiba and his three Blue Eyes White Dragons, both the real and the ghost Kaibas. In both situations he had needed an edge, Exodia, or the real Kaiba uploading a virus into a Holo-stadium's computer. Ranma, here had no edge but his own skill. It was how he would have wanted anyway!  
Ranma pondered, why not use the Blue Eyes' he already has? Why send out two weaker monsters if he could use a kick-ass monster like that? Ranma frowned even more and thought, If I keep this frowning, up, I'm going to get worry wrinkles! Oh, what if Kaiba has some way of powering up his Dragon that he is waiting for. But why, does he know I have some more powerful cards than that. He couldn't, the waiting must be part of some strategy.  
Kaiba meanwhile was becoming agitated. Why isn't he attacking, is it because he now knows I have a Blue Eyes' in my hand?  
"I pass this turn, Rana!" Kaiba said to Ranma.  
"My name is 'Ranma'!" replied a miffed Ranma, who was having a small daydream of putting Kaiba through a very painful torture, forcing him to watch Teletubbies comes to mind.  
Ranma drew another card, Horn of Horror, a magic card that had the ability to sacrifice one enemy monster to power up one of his own monsters by half the sacrificed attack and defence points. Ranma looked at the card depicting a bloodied, thorny horn made of rotting wood, and thought, why not?  
"Kaiba, your itching for me to attack aren't ya. Probably 'cause of that Sword Stalker of yours. Well, your wish is my command." Said Ranma chattily, suddenly changing to an aggressive shout. "Go, Horn of Horror, sacrifice Battle Ox!"   
Kaiba frowned, again, as he saw his monster shatter into pixels, pseudo-energy from within the construct flying towards, and disappearing into, the mist. His life-points going down to 1150, as half of Battle Ox's attack points were deducted from his life-points.  
Ranma smiled, as he saw his Dark Magician go from 2500/2100, to 3350/2600 due to the Horn of Horror. Then it went even further up to 3850/3100 due to the enhancing power of the Cloak of the mystic, and then another addition to its power due to the demise of Battle Ox, raising its power to 4050/3600.  
Kaiba drew another card, and summoned La Jinn (1800/1000). The ghostly genie floating in front of the disk, arrogantly crossing it's arms and smirking.  
Ranma smirked in reply to the overconfidence of both the monster and duellist. "Well Kaiba you have played well, so far, but will you last, I doubt it! Well, Let's get you a little closer to defeat. I activate the Despell magic card!"  
Bursts of energy came from the foggy mist, aimed at Kaiba's hand. A card swirled around, revealing itself, Ancient Lamp. They disappeared in a shower of pixels.  
Ranma smirked. "That ends my turn!"  
Kaiba flinched and gazed at his cards.   
I need something stronger than what I have. I only have 1 Blue eyes. Its' not enough! He thought quickly, a ritual card. I have three weaker monsters, three weak ones for one strong one. Yes, that is what I need. Thought Kaiba.  
He reverently drew a card from his deck. He pulled at his glove, making the disk stop spinning and come to his hand. He placed the card down and threw it once more to the ground between himself and Ranma. "I activate the Shadow's Light ritual! By sacrificing my La Gin, Sword Stalker and Reokoshin, I am now given a new monster to beat you with!"  
A vertical wooden panel appeared, above their heads. It had a sword at either end, and in the centre was a silver chalice that was up the right way, but filled with black fluid that ran over the rim and ran along it's surface to fall down to the ground, with a cackle of dark energy.  
Some droplets fell on Sword Stalker's head. It yelled it's battle cry before blowing up in pixels, it's energy given to the ritual.  
The few drips became a stream, then a river, and then it separated, making an upside-down 'Y'. The two swords dropped from their places and slammed into the hearts of the other monster sacrifices. Then the odd arch was filled with electricity as something stepped from beyond into the duelling stadium.  
Quite suddenly, the sacrifices and the ritual board vanished. Even the fluid disappeared, leaving the monster behind. It was tall and wore a black suit of outlandish armour. It's face was a like a human boys, similar to the Dark Magician, but with Steel cords for hair and grey highlights on it's armour, instead of black hair and purple highlights to both it's hair and 'armour'.  
"Witness the awesome power of The Shadow Warrior! With his 3200 attack points and 2800 defence points, you haven't a monster in your deck that can defeat him!" boasted Kaiba.  
Ranma smiled slightly. With his Dark Magician at 4050/3600, the Shadow warrior was far from invincible, but, just in case, he powered up his magician further with the Book of Sacred Arts, which raised the monster's points by 300, raising it to 4350/3900.   
Even then, the Shadow Warrior would have no way to target Ranma's own monsters, or indeed get around the Mirror Force trap card Ranma placed. Ranma felt confident that Seto Kaiba's new monster was only a decoy, despite its great power.   
Why? Because of the Blue Eyes'! Surely, if Kaiba had used his Dragon, and used the Invigoration magic card he had earlier, it would have had become much greater than the Shadow Warrior, and much quicker!   
It was obvious that Kaiba had a plan revolving around that Dragon, or possibly all of them! He had to prepare for the worst!  
Ranma placed his newly drawn card down. The monster card: Animated Ooze (0/0), which he put down in attack mode.  
  
Kaiba was becoming more and more worried as his opponent used his turn to no discernible effect. It was very clear to him that his opponent had made up more defences to protect his hidden monsters.  
He drew his three more cards now: two Blue Eyes White Dragons and polymerisation. He was now capable of defeating his opponent completely. However, Kaiba knew that Ranma must have made strong defences, traps which, he intended to trigger with his Shadow Warrior. For now, he put his Dragons and the magic card facedown and ended his turn.  
  
Ranma looked at Kaiba, himself, unseen through the Haze. The 'champ' had nearly completed his stratum. The hidden look of glee was visible enough to Ranma. Ranma was only slightly worried. This turn, he would make his Dark Magician powerful enough to defeat anything that Kaiba had made up.   
Since the incident with Panik, Ranma had been careful not to power up his Dark Magician too much, just enough. He now considered that incident as an example in overkill. But now, he had to be cautious. Unlike the others, he was well aware of the possibility of a three-way fusion of three Blue Eyes' and now he had to be prepared for it, as well as just being aware of the threat.   
On top of that, he would bet his fused Millennium Puzzle that, that was what the elder Kaiba had in mind!  
"Well, Kaiba. Say goodbye to the Shadow Warrior! Animated Ooze, make that monster an Internal Symbiote!"  
Kaiba moaned softly as his, Shadow Warrior was swallowed, by a large tendril, of horrific, black, ooze. He could only look as the monster was dragged, helpless through the fog.  
"And now Kaiba, I deactivate my Unrevealing Haze!" The fog that surrounded Ranma's side of the field dissipated harmlessly, into the air. Without the fog, Kaiba could clearly see his monster being dragged into a mound of black ooze. He also saw from within his now-paralysed monster's black prison, a lance of energy flew to another monster, the Dark Magician.   
"Now Kaiba. My Animated Ooze has ensnared your monster, and has drained its power, giving it to my Dark Magician. Through various power ups, he is, sorry, was at 4350 attack and 3900 defence points. Now with the drained power from your Shadow Warrior it has been raised to 7550 attack and 6700 defence points. Some would consider this overkill, but I know of the power of your deck, and it's Dragons! You can either surrender, or try the polymerisation of your monsters, if your as far ahead in your strategy as I believe. As it's my turns' end, I cannot attack. It is your choice!"  
  
Kaiba balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. He would not fail Mokuba. His little brother's, very soul was stolen by that evil man, Pegasus. Normally, he couldn't care less about Ranma, but defeating Ranma was the only way to get to duel, Pegasus, himself!  
He could not lose!  
He drew the disk back and turned his Dragons and the magic card right-way-up. He then flung it to he ground.  
"Go Blue Eyes' become Blue Eyes' Ultimate Dragon!"  
  
A beam of light shone into the sky, as wings came from it, like a giant bird diving down to the ground. Then they righted themselves and the energy washed off them and the beam stopped to reveal a giant, Blue Eyes' with three long necks and three heads.  
Kaiba looked at Ranma, and saw the unimpressed expression on his face. He became angry and then depressed. He saw his magnificent Monster, and saw only his failure to save Mokuba. Mokuba was lost now. He was lost now. His little brother's soul was lost! No, he couldn't lose. He quickly thought about Ranma, who was he, was there a weakness he could use.  
He liked playing games; that's what Pegasus had mentioned about him!  
He remembered:  
He had seen Pegasus come up to him as he tried to pick the lock to Mokuba's cage. His little brother, encouraging him. Then Pegasus made his presence know by stealing Mokuba's soul. He told him that if he wanted to Duel for his little brother's soul, first he had to defeat Ranma. The black-haired boy who hung around with Yugi! He was given five starchips and then Pegasus, arrogant ass that he is, walked away. Only throwing over his shoulder a comment that Ranma like to play games.  
Then it struck him. "Ranma, how would you like to play a game?"  
Ranma looked interested, "Depends what kind?"  
"If you give me three turns to power up my monster, and if at the end of those turns my Dragon can destroy your Dark Magician then I'll win. If I can't though, then I'll lose!"  
Ranma looked at Kaiba thoughtfully, "Well, I've already won. So why would I give you a second chance to defeat me?"  
Kaiba thought quickly, "Maybe I have a card that you would like? And it could be the prize if you win!"  
Ranma pondered, "There not really a card that you have that I like!"  
Kaiba stared in shock. He expected Ranma to bet one or more of Kaiba's Blue Eyes. "Why not my Blue Eyes White Dragons?"  
"Na, I've already got a few of those!" Ranma said absently  
"What!" remarked Kaiba. "How?"  
This got Ranma to pay attention, and he replied guardedly, "Eh, I meant... Um, that is to say... Um, I already have plenty Dragon type cards. And besides you'd need them if you do end up facing Pegasus!" Ranma thought a little more and came up with an idea. "Hey, if I win, you come with Yugi, Joey and me to the tournament. And, no matter who wins, Joey'll get the money and whoever challenges Pegasus makes him release all the souls he's captured! Think you can do that!"  
Kaiba nodded solemnly.  
"Well, then let the game commence. I'm warning you now Kaiba, I won't be enhancing my Dark Magician with magic cards, but you're free to do so however means you wish, just don't bring me or my monsters into it! Okay?"  
Kaiba nodded. "Okay, then!"  
  
Kaiba drew a card from his deck and prayed. He pulled the slip of card out and looked at it. It was Invigoration. He then drew back his disk and placed the card down and spun it to indicate the end of his turn. The disk revealed the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon gaining a power boost, (4700/3800). That ended his turn.  
Ranma also drew a card and used it. However his card was of a very different nature to that of Kaiba's card. The card was Changing Alliances, a card that could make a trapped monster change alliances and become his for five turns. He drew another card, Sword of Dark destruction. He placed it face up and flung the disk.  
The changes that were occurring in the hologram were quite obvious. The Shadow Warrior emerged calmly from the helpful Animated Ooze, and took his place beside the Dark Magician. Then a sword fell from the sky, right at the Shadow Warrior. The monster in question caught the blade with little or no difficulty, and stood in a ready kendo stance. The Sword of Dark Destruction powered the monster up by 500 attack points, raising it to 3700/2800.  
This is it, thought Ranma. Without the extra power-up from the captured Shadow Warrior, my Magician is weaker than the Dragon. If Kaiba keeps his word he won't attack. If he is a liar, then he'll either use a magic card, Despell or Harpies Feather Duster to negate my traps and then he'll attack my magician, or he'll not take that precaution and he'll just attack, and be done in by Mirror Force. If he does the former, I'm done for, if he does the latter, he's done for!  
  
His worries proved to be unfounded. Kaiba, despite being a jerk, had a high moral code, a little like Ranma, but smarter. He declined to win in such a way, but instead kept to his promise. He drew his two cards, Horn of the Unicorn and another Invigoration. He placed them both on his disk and once again set it spinning.  
This time on each of the Dragon's head a horn appeared golden with little raised rings around it. The Dragon once again received a powerful boost. (5300/3500.)  
  
Ranma now drew his card, being restricted to one by the lack of spaces on the disk. The card was a little magic card called Dark Glove. Similar to Dragon Nails, Dark Glove enhanced a monster of a particular kind. Dragon nails enhanced Dragons, and Dark Glove enhanced dark-type humanoids, magicians or warriors, by exactly 600 attack points.   
He threw the prepared saucer device, and set it spinning. Making his monsters reappear: Dark Magician, and Animated Ooze, with Shadow Warrior in-between. This time, ribbons of black, silky material appeared and wrapped up one of the Shadow Warriors hands, then shifting to form a glove made of silken bands and black opals.  
"It's your turn now Kaiba. Make it good, it's your last turn!" said Ranma.  
  
Kaiba drew two more cards, Dragon Nails and Dragon's Breath. Both cards enhanced Dragon sub-types, by 300 attack points each. He placed them both down and threw the disk for what would very likely be the last time in this duel!  
His Dragon reappeared. But this time it had the Dragon Nails on its front claws, and was emitting blue smoke out the side of it's mouths. (5700/3500)  
"I'm ready," said Kaiba ending his turn.  
  
Ranma smiled at Kaiba and pulled out one of his cards from the Deck recognition system. He looked at the card and smiled.  
"I'll only put down this one card Kaiba! I activate Treachery." He chuckled slightly. "Have a look at your Shadow Warrior."  
Kaiba's eyes widened. "What do you mean, mine?"   
"Look!"  
Kaiba did, and Ranma commented at the sight.  
Shadow Warrior, had once again become Kaiba's, however the Animated Ooze believed it's betrayal, to be an attack and so counter-attacked in the only way it could. Internal Symbiosis!  
"You see. If a monster that is believed to be a friend becomes an enemy it tends to be the follow up to an attack, so Animated Ooze's special ability, Internal Symbiosis is activated automatically, if an enemy is found under these circumstances."  
Kaiba gazed in morbid fascination and the Shadow Warrior was dragged into the sludge. Once again, Kaiba could only see his outline, and then the lance of light occurred once more, shooting towards the Dark Magician, giving him the attack and defence points of the bolstered Shadow Warrior.   
"You see, by making Shadow Warrior rebel, I made it become assimilated again, this time with my enhancements, therefore indirectly enhancing Dark Magician to a higher degree than I could have done otherwise! All this makes Dark Magician 8650 attack, and 6700 defence points strong! I think I have won, Kaiba!"  
  
Kaiba looked shocked. Who would have though such a roundabout strategy could work so well. He thought. Oh, Mokuba, I failed you! But I may have a second chance if I go with them. Very well, I must go with them to defeat Pegasus. I don't even care which one of use does it.  
Defeated, he placed his hand over his deck. "I surrender!"  
  
Croquet once again came into the dining room, where Pegasus sat, drinking his fruit juice and reading his favourite comic books.  
"Sir, the fight has finished. Ranma was the victor!" he stated humbly.   
Pegasus jumped up and threw his glass of fruit juice at the nearest window. The finer glass shattering and scratched the windowpane.   
"I already know, Croquet. I already know." He said resignedly and slumped in his seat to massage his aching head. 


	6. Wild Sand Chapter 5

Wild Sand Chapter 5  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue.  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 5  
  
Ranma was quite happy. Well, perhaps not too much.  
He was in the luxurious room provided for him. The others had ones like it, but his had a special vibe. It was that vibe that lured him to choose this room in particular.  
Over the past few days, he had never really had much time alone, to think. He was always duelling or talking, or basically not trying to think, perhaps trying not to! But now, in the silent, lonely room, he had opportunity to think.  
Why was he here? How? Who was the oddly dressed woman that attacked him? How was she connected through his transport through time?   
Transport. That was it, transport. The special ability of the Puzzle is the ability to transport, in his reality at least! When he was attacked, the Puzzles magic must have tried to save him from the blast. The blast itself, or the energy in the attack must have interfered and shifted his 'flight-path' through the Shadow Realm. Time and space mean very little in the Shadow realm, so technically he could have easily been diverted and end up on a not-too dissimilar reality from his own. He didn't think that the blast was powerful enough to have diverted him to far, after all in this reality there were Duel Monsters and Millennium Items, even an alternate Yami spirit!  
So, if he had it within his power to get here, surely it was within his power to travel back. And if time meant nothing to the Shadow realm, he may be able to go home for a length of time and return only seconds later in this reality and the same vice versa. He could go home and reappear only minutes later from when he disappeared.  
Ranma smiled and collected his things.  
  
Sailor Pluto saw her opponent disappear and was once more content. The threat to Crystal Tokyo was eliminated and the future was secure.  
She looked around and saw to her surprise, the large explosion for the Dead Scream attracted no attention from the passing pedestrians, except those who walked around the rubble of the blown a part section of fencing.  
She at first assumed they were under some sort of spell until a group of boys passed.  
"Always in Nerima!" murmured one of the teens as he past.  
Sailor Pluto, aka Setsuna Meiou, had no idea what was going on with these people, but just chalked it up to one of those inexplicable things in life, and planned to look into it later.  
She reverted to her civilian form, again no one around really caring, and she walked happily away from the area.  
  
Ranma appeared in a flash of golden light, disorientated and having a hard time feeling any rail under his feet.  
He fell only have way, his magic lashed out and solidified a pocket of air under his foot, which he used as a foothold to go into a summersault to land on the pavement.  
He shook himself off, checked his deck and checked everything off his mind. Deck, check; clothes, check; Nerima, check; urge to eat a lot of cheese, check; violent tomboy at two o'clock, check!  
He promptly walked sharply away from school, to find a quite place to teleport to school without being spotted by the grand high bit...  
"Owe," he hissed; a shard of concrete embedded in his foot. He removed it and set some magic to repair the minor injury.  
He quickly continued on his way.  
  
She couldn't believe it, wouldn't believe it. She killed him; she had secured the future! How could he, a normal human, survive her blast? Not an ordinary human, she reminded herself, he was obviously even more protected by the accursed Millennium Item than she had assumed.  
She would need both the Inners and Outers now, if he really has tapped into the entirety of the Puzzles dark powers!  
  
Ranma walked into the shop. It was lunchtime and he had teleported into Juuban to visit a card store that he had heard of at school earlier. It was quite popular apparently in both wards. He had become very curious and came in the hope of some really powerful Duel Monsters cards.   
He was not disappointed.  
He browsed the good-sized store and carefully selected a number of booster packs. He sensed some pretty interesting cards within. To his immense delight, he could tell one of them was another Red Eyes Black Dragon and another was a Magic Metal Force trap card, identical to the one he sensed from another finalist, Bandit Keith's, deck.   
Also, to his surprise and great, great happiness, he also discovered one contained the rare and wondrously powerful Reiokou. The magic card had the ability to take half of the opponent's life-points and add them to a friendly monsters attack power.  
He chuckled evilly as he took the pack from the shelf, and turned round to go to the till, to be met by a number of people looking at him oddly.  
He laughed nervously and scratched the base of his pigtail with one hand, holding the packs in his other hand.  
He walked towards the till; not noticing that some people hadn't yet taken their suspicious eyes of him.  
  
Rei was sure of it, the boy looked just like the 'Golden Heart of Tokyo', but the boy had laughed, evilly. Good superheroes, just don't laugh evilly, they laugh nicely. Therefore she reached the conclusion that this boy was nothing to do with the golden armoured hero that she had been saved by, who cares it the others were saved, he probably just did it for her. Yeah, right!  
She turned back towards the stacks of cool Duel Monsters cards. She selected one at random, as was her method and went to the till to buy it.  
  
Ranma, before going to the till, sensed an odd power coming from the back room. It sent slight shivers down his spine. It felt like being touch by cool marble on every inch of his body, it was cool and calculatingly negative.  
He, the wizard that he was made by due to his item, sent his power flowing, unobtrusively, through the trickling, stagnating streams of dark energy. He found it's source, a crystalline demon, similar to the demon Animated Ooze was before he caught it within a card. He could feel that it was using the prospering store to draw small amounts of spiritual energy from the unaware customers to power itself. He could also feel that it was deeply malevolent and only took such a slight amount of energy because it didn't want to draw attention to itself until it had repaired from a previous fight with the Sailor Scouts. But once it was healed, it would be difficult to destroy, perhaps costing many lives.  
He sensed the creature controlling the couple who ran the store; it's foul presence within them.  
Oddly enough, once he ran what he knew of the being through the parts of his Yami existence that was intimately aware of how to turn ordinary things into cards, he discovered that the demonic thing could be potentially useful.  
He whispered a small spell of invisibility, and disappeared, mostly unnoticed by everyone in the store, due to his being in a shadow, between two stands.  
He made his way confidently towards the back room, not wishing to teleport and to show all of his power to his demonic foe.  
  
Rei, aka, Sailor Mars, was quite shocked to see the good-looking boy that she was appreciatively eyeing, just disappear from sight.  
Definitely an abnormal occurrence, she decided intelligently, and calmly went somewhere quiet to contact the other Sailors.  
  
Ranma reappeared in the back room of the store; it was filled with crates and filled with a homely musty smell of ageing wood. The store had been unknowingly built on a powerful lay-line, one of the many that converged in or around Tokyo, Juuban in particular, with Nerima a close second.  
The crystalline creature was defiling the power of that lay-line by attempting to tap into its power, to power-up enough to heal and grow, and to make it's meagre meal the last of the small meals it would have to eat, in it's life-time. The next meals, it had most likely promised itself, would be much larger!  
It disgusted him that such a creature could have touched something so pure, and not have any ramifications, at all, fall upon it. Well, in this case, it was Ranma who would be its ramification, of that he was determined.  
  
Outside the store, in its eastern alley, five teenage girls met and conferred.  
"Well, I was in the store next door," Sailor Mars, relayed to her fellow Scouts. "And I saw this guy, I mean he was really, well, different. He had these really intense blue eyes and pitch-black hair..."  
"Wow, I guess he really must be an evil guy!" said Sailor Venus sarcastically. She was feeling sore because she had, had to halt right in the middle of trying to get a date from some poor soul. She was presently directing her irritation at Sailor Mars. "Kami, why can't a cute guy, be a cute guy, and not some evil thing come to devour us all, huh? Jeez!"  
"Well normally I'd agree with you Venus..." Sailor Mars deadpanned. "But I saw the guy disappear into thin air, and he cackled evilly! What more proof do you need?"  
Venus laughed sheepishly and blushed slightly.  
  
Ranma walked fearlessly through the maze of crates. He could sense the creature trying to hides its presence futilely. He felt sure that this was an easy kill! He was wrong.  
  
"Aaahhh!" shriek... um, screamed Ranma, in not a remotely feminine way, as he flew through the shop's front window.  
The other customers screamed and ran out the building. They were; Ranma absently noticed from his uncomfortable position upside-down implanted in the face of the building directly across from the card store, mostly teenagers. They were followed closely by a slow-moving creature, the same thing Ranma was attempting to card.  
It was similar to Animated Ooze, but made of crystal, and it was spearheaded by a figure, jutting out from the flowing, screeching mass of crystals. To look upon, the figure was quite pretty, with flowing white hair made of minute links of white crystals, and eyes made entirely of two large sapphires. She was tallish and regal, with a cold smirk on her otherwise emotionless face. Below her torso she became one with the mass of crystal.  
A number of scantily clad magical girls ran towards Ranma, seeing him as a possible victim needing saving.  
  
Sailor Mars was shocked to see the face of her mysterious boy, as he was upside-down, implanted into a wall, and yet looking perfectly comfortable.  
Sailor Moon was a little more practical and spoke up, "Um, doesn't that really hurt?"  
Ranma looked at her calmly and replied soundly. "You'd be surprised how much!"  
"Um, need a hand down?"  
"Hmm, let me think. Na, I just stay right where I am and remain in incredible pain for the rest of my natural life. Thanks for the offer though!" Ranma replied fully embracing the spirit of sarcasm.  
"Oh, alright then!" said Sailor Moon and she and the other Scouts went to confront the monster, leaving an angry Ranma behind to seethe in his contempt for short skirted magical girls.  
  
"I am Sailor Moon. A card store is for buying and, uh, trading and, uh, what ever a card store is used for, and not for you evil whims! For desecrating a card store, and harming the innocents within, I shall punish you!" the oddly hair-styled girl yelled at the irritated Youma.  
The youma was a sleeper, used by either the Death Busters, or Sailor Galactica, even perhaps, the Negaverse. To look at it, it was quite impossible to tell, and it was as ignorant at its origins as the Scouts were. But, despite being a sleeper, it was still quite powerful and clever, dangerously so.  
  
Ranma had carefully extricated himself from the unpleasant indentation that he left as a souvenir. Her surveyed the Scouts and their battle with the youma, as soon as he had regained his balance that is!  
The fight was going badly, the scouts attacks were being absorbed by the creature and it laughed at their physical attacks. The few times and attacks made a difference, the creature healed up, again, laughing loudly in a spine-chilling chime-like way.  
He could see that their was a tendril of the monster leading down, back into the building, it was quite possible that it was drawing power from the lay-line, if so, where were the Sailor's attack's power going?   
He spotted out the corner of his eye, two middle-aged people; they were couple that ran the store. He could sense that the power from the attacks that hit with no apparent effect, were in fact going to the couple.   
It was startlingly similar to Animated Ooze's ability to take an enemies power and give it to allied creatures. The only differences were the ways in which it was done, instead of trapping the opponent and diverting it's energies, the attacking energy is redirected and made to power-up a being.  
Ranma connected the dots and came up with the, possibly correct, assumption that there was a relation between Animated Ooze and this new youma.  
  
The Sailors were clustered together between Ranma and the monster. Each of them sported a number of bruises and painful cuts due to the diamond hard body of the youma. They had, had little or no luck trying to bring down the monster themselves, and more than just Sailor Moon hoped that Tuxedo Kamen were their at that moment to lift their spirits and give a hand!  
What they got was better.  
"Hey, wind-chime! Over here!" shouted a familiar voice. Both the Sailors and the Youma looked towards the source of the voice, as well as the hidden youma-controlled couple.  
Before them was the young man they had seen earlier, the same one who had been crashed into the wall and bore a striking resemblance to the Golden Heart of Tokyo.  
"I was having a perfectly happy time getting some Duel Monster cards, and you show up! I am getting real tired of you Youma! Go, Dark Magician!" he took a slip of card from his pocket and threw it down to the ground in front of him.  
In an upwards-directed mist of purple mist, emitted by the card, a figure could be seen. It serenely took and step forwards, floating effortlessly above the pavement.   
The mist dissipated and the card disappeared, leaving a tall man in purple, with a long staff, both staff and clothing having intermittent rings of a lighter shade of purple.  
Ranma smiled.  
  
Rei gasped. She recognised the tall, youngish figure of the Dark Magician, and she knew where she had recognised the purple skeleton-like creature that the Golden Heart of Tokyo had summoned.  
"Duel Monsters!" she whispered, her voice hoarse, and unnoticed.  
  
"Dark Magician: use Dark Magic attack!" shouted Ranma enthusiastically, throwing a magic card at the Dark Magician, at the same moment.  
The Dark Magician shot a golden eye symbol enshrouded in purple mist out from the semi-submerged sphere at the end of his staff. It collided with the crystal creature's chest and imprinted the eye symbol upon the youma.  
Its' eyes went blank and it stared into space, it's mind enshrouded with tendrils, controlling it as it had controlled the storeowners.  
Ranma pumped the air with his fist. "Yes. My combo attack with Dark Magician and the Eye of Illusion worked perfectly. Now, your mine!" He closed his eyes and focused. Then threw out his hand and pulled viciously at the Youma's magical essence. He drew it up and wrapped in a card-like shape. He felt the energy in the youma coalesce and reform, flying towards his hand.  
In reality it looked like the youma was fading out of existence, while a slip of card was fading into existence within Ranma's hand.  
Finally the process was complete and the youma faded completely from view, the last of its energy drawn into the card.   
He summed back the Dark Magician and the magic card.  
Then he took his newest card and looked at it piercingly. He did not have the chance for any more than a glance when a horrendous scream pierced the air.  
The store-owning couple, were out of hiding, the scream had came from the woman. She was screaming, as the enforced symbiote was turning to energy and escaping from her mouth. The stream flowed towards and into the man, in the same fashion as it escaped the crying woman.  
  
"Kami!" exclaimed Usagi as she saw the poor woman thrashing as the horrible essence escaped from her. In all the time she had spent hunting and destroying Youma, this was the single most horrible thing she had ever seen.  
The other sailor scouts felt the same.  
  
Ranma did not.  
Ranma was connected to the Shadow Realm, a place of impossibly beautiful dreams and unspeakable nightmares. To become as powerful as him, one had to not be effected, delirious or disgusted, by anything one could hope to encounter in the Shadow Realm.  
Therefore, he felt quite unfeeling about the woman's plight, a sort of enforced emotionless state that he planned to use if he encountered a cat again, that left him calm and immobile.  
  
Eventually the woman's screaming stopped and her husband stared forward, ignoring her collapsed form, just as he had throughout her torment.  
He was facing Ranma, even when the changes began.  
Slowly his back bulged, slowly and not soundlessly. The snaps and crunches from the bones reforming could be heard throughout the deserted street.  
Then his shirt ripped and out from his back were freed a pair of large grey wings, from all appearances were made from steel. It was then that he screamed and lunged forward, the older man going at speeds that would be difficult for the Olympic athletes.  
Unfortunately, for him, Ranma thought Olympic athletes were wimps!  
  
In short order, Ranma dealt with the older man, with relative ease.   
The man had tried to overpower Ranma, not bothering to use his wings, to give him an arial advantage. But Ranma had only ever been overpowered by one person since he had come to Nerima, Royoga, and the old man wouldn't be a challenge to Kuno!  
The old man was currently at his feet, tired to the point of entering a coma. The parasite / symbiote that infested him had combined with the one that was within the woman in an attempt to destroy the one that en-captured their creator.  
They had failed, and now it was time to pay the price.  
Ranma held out his hand, and with barely a noise the wings turned into sparkles of silvery light, flowing as streamers towards Ranma's hand, where they took a card form.  
Ranma held his other hand to the now completely human man. He sent some Chi into the man to heal his wounds, and some Sa to heal his spirit, now the healing was up to the man's strength of will.  
He turned round and was faced by a group of five Sailor Scouts.  
  
Ranma cut them off from asking any questions by answering all the possible questions that they could have had.  
"Yes, they'll be fine. In a few weeks, depending on their medical care. Yes, I am also the Golden Heart of Tokyo, but that was just a joke. I'm Ranma Saotome. Nineteen and single, and no I'm not looking for a girlfriend. My powers are from my business. Goodbye."  
Ranma smirked impishly and disappeared in a flash of multicoloured light.  
  
Later that day, the girls had come from their respective schools and headed towards Rei's shrine, to chat, gossip and read manga.  
"Hey, Rei, don't be a meanie. I've never read that issue!" stated Usagi, once step away from tears.  
"This is mine. Mine. You don't take what's not yours! I don't want you to read my stuff, so don't!" raged Rei at the watery-eyed Usagi.  
The other girls were doing their respective activities, gossiping, reading magazines or typing for some mysterious reason on the Mercury computer.  
"But Rei..."  
They were interrupted by a sudden appearance of four figures in the centre of the room. One second they weren't there, then they were.  
They five girls relaxed slightly when they recognised the figures as being their fellow scouts, Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the Outers, still, they were very distrusting of the Outers and their methods, and as such, kept their transformation pens close-by.  
The four made themselves at home, and Sailor Pluto's presence tended to show that there was an important event on the horizon, so all looked at her questioningly.  
"Come on, out with it!" sated Uranus. "Why did you drag us from our home to here?"  
Pluto took a moment to think and then answered. "The world is in terrible danger!"  
The scouts looked almost... relieved.   
"Oh, only that! Well, we can deal with that can't we, girls?" laughed Sailor Jupiter, leading the other scouts into a feeling of confident ability and strength.  
They were soon brought down to Earth by the look on Pluto's face. "This danger is unlike any other. The 'Golden heart of Tokyo', aka Ranma Saotome, is the possessor of an ancient magical item..."  
"And?" asked Usagi.  
"It is one of seven. He has already fused two of them together. Once he has all of them, he will become a God!   
"At the price of the world, itself!" 


	7. Wild Sand Chapter 6

Wild Sand Chapter 6  
Yu-gi-oh crossover with Ranma 1/2  
by Naquiel  
  
Disclaimer - Ranma and Yu-gi-oh don't belong to me so please don't sue. I would like to apologise about the lack of any card duels in this chapter, expect one in the next chapter though!  
  
~~~~#~~~~  
Chapter 6  
  
The girls were frozen upon hearing those words, 'At the price of the World itself!'   
Until Minako, aka Sailor Venus broke the silence. "Oh, he was so cute! Why, why do we never get cute, nice boys in our line of work!"  
"Don't forget my Mamo-chan!" Usagi raged.  
"Oh, yeah like Tuxedo Kamen can even be considered a contender against that black-haired boy, Ranma I think he said his name was!" stated Sailor Jupiter with little love-hearts in her eyes.  
Usagi went of in a huff, crossing her arms across her chest and frowning.  
Sailor Pluto was not pleased with the girls reactions. "Don't you want to know about how to stop him?"  
"Go ahead, tell us," asked Hotaru, aka Sailor Saturn. She coughed lightly into her hand.  
"Well, it started about two thousand years ago." She paused to collect her thoughts.  
"At first I thought it was just an anomaly in the time stream, but normally anomalies don't grow, especially not the way it did. I did some digging and discovered that just before the anomaly started, the Ancient Egyptians were experimenting, trying to find the source of all magic. I am sure that they did not, in fact, find the source of all magic, but the source of all nightmares. They tapped into that power and played games, of all things, with it. The anomaly came to be through this, it was a side effect that made the entire Old Kingdom beyond the power of the gates to see." She paused again, as if considering what to say and what to keep secret.  
"I managed to find some ways in which to penetrate this 'fog' in the Time Gates sight, but it was not easy and drew upon a lot of power. I managed to find a number of time-orientated magical items to enhance the power of the Gates and penetrate the fog, but by this time, somehow, they had managed to discover the true evil of the force they tapped into and lock it away. I thereafter ceased to consider it as a threat. The Time Gates showed nothing of what had happened in Egypt, what had happened during the magic being used, or how it was locked away; it also showed nothing of if the magic would reappear.  
"Four hundred years ago, I discovered that the evil place, the Shadow Realm, as it was called, was still being tapped into. I continued to dig into the topic, and discovered that it's malignant influence was limited to several items, each containing unimaginable power from the Shadow Realm, and that together they would unleash the true force of the Shadow Realm. By making one man, or woman, a God, and spread the power of the Shadow Realm, through a giant portal, a sort of thinness in the membrane between there and here!"  
"Wow," said Rei. "So how is this connected to Duel Monsters?"  
"I beg your pardon!" Sailor Pluto plucked up, "Ah, that. Well, somehow, the ancient game once played by the Egyptians through the magic of the Shadow Realm has been duplicated for modern circumstances. However there is no actual magic within the cards!" she finished with a clear unopposed point.  
"I'm not to sure of that!" stated Rei doubtfully. "If there is no magic to them, then how did he make two of them come alive?"  
No one answered especially the shame-faced, ignorant, Pluto.  
  
Ranma chuckled. What fools! They didn't realise the first thing about the Shadow Realm.   
He was currently in his room, lying on his futon, clothed and resting, using his magic to spy of the magical girls. He was more than slightly amused that the green-haired one that attempted to kill him actually had a reason, flawed, but at least a reason that he could understand, unlike the motivations of a certain Royoga Hibiki, or say, Kuno Tatewaki!  
He was curious as to why the Scouts always seemed to jump to conclusions, he had spied on them most of the day, and throughout they were always making irratic assumptions about, well, daimons.  
Earlier, well after the incident at the card store, they attacked a perfectly harmless, wandering youma. It, oddly enough, had no desire to even feed itself by devouring the life energy of it's victims, going so far as to have completely starved itself of life-giving energy. It wouldn't have stood a chance against the Scout's speeches, never mind their attacks. They only way it could be saved was, a reappearance of the well-dressed Golden heart of Tokyo, who promptly carded the monster and ran off, making sure to appear the hero in the whole incident.   
He found it, well, odd, that he could have pulled off that stunt without out them reacting differently, but they even reacted as if he was the saviour, even though all they knew who he really was! It must be the costume; short-skirted magical girls reincarnated from a fallen civilisation tended to lean towards men in really-wacky-cum-cool-looking-'uniforms'!  
Thinking about the monster in question, he drew the slip of card from his pocket. It, like all other cards, was wonderfully elegant, in some in-perceivable way! He, however, could clearly see how it bent the magic of the Shadow Realm around itself. The scouts had assumed that the cards were either magical or non-magical, they were both very wrong!  
The cards, as soon as they were printed, became one of many 'keys' to the magic of the Shadow Realm. Just like a stereotypical witch would use potions to do specific tasks, Duel Monsters were designed to, wither intentionally or not, bend the weave of magical power around themselves, becoming channels, capped with a thin membrane that held the power from leaking out into the real world. To tap into that power, one had to pierce the membrane and a Millennium Item could do that better than any High Priest!  
Still, he drew his attention to the card's unique qualities. It's name was the Avatar of Tidings, in the picture box was a child-like figure in a dark rust red cloak, with the hood up, hiding all of it's face but two oval, luminous red eyes, and two thin, protruding, swept-back horns. The horns were enshrouded with a pale aura that highlighted their silver colour, and his hunched form was outlined in a similar red halo.  
His attack and defence was 1500/2500, a good, very good, set of numbers, better than the Mystic Elf. But, what Ranma found the most interesting was the fact that there was a special ability demonstrated by the insecure daimon.  
The little daimon was actually a cute, likeable fellow, in a demony way! He was certainly a more likeable person, than some of the people, Ranma, had met in his life! Ranma had conversed with the surprisingly intellectual creature, in the Shadow Realm, of course, where both he and the daimon could exist without the same bonds, and could meet as more-or-less equals. The only thing about his creature that Ranma worried about was its insecurity.  
Every time a card representing a creature is used, in a game in the realworld, it experiences the game; it's channelled into the card. Every time it won or lost, it felt it, and revelled in it. Ranma was sure that by using the daimon in his next duel, it would increase the little ones spiritual self-confidence a great deal, and help it gain a greater understanding of it's new existence, to help it truly become one with it's new nature.  
He found doing the same thing was just about impossible with the crystal daimon, or Animated Crystal, as it was newly named. The creature was very evil and sought to destroy and control as a youma, and would continue to do so as a Duel Monster, only Ranma could use that to his advantage! Any form of communication, other than, 'here's your target, seek 'em' gave any results, except a great deal of anger and resentment, and a pure evil presence, that rolled off the thing like fog!  
He gave up all hope of a possible teamwork advantage, oh well; it's not as if it's necessary, he just liked feeling really close to his cards. This lack of friendship did not bother him, actually he would have found it odd if one did develop! He sensed the creature's evil on the first encounter; it was then that he knew that if things went along the lines of, he won, he carded it, then this sort of minor problem would arise, hence, he wasn't really bothered by being given the cold shoulder!  
He sighed heavily as he 'heard' the Scouts begin the slow, tedious process of saying very little of interest!  
  
Ranma was just walking to school, a perfectly natural scene, with him walking perfectly normally along the top of a fence. He, however, was quite different.  
Yesterday, the day of the whole card store escapade and the capturing of two new Duel monsters, he had decided to go for a change of fashion, yet stick to the whole, Chinese-silk theme! He traded in his old red shirt with the embroidered Dragon, for a black shirt with gold lining and stitching, complete with black leather bracers on his wrists. He traded in his typical black kung-fu trousers for a similar version, except in a matching gold and black design and with black leather shin guards.  
He chose these clothes as they went, surprisingly, well with his Millennium Item. The gold of the clothes was just the right shade to match the Item, and the black matched the unnaturally dark shadows cast upon the Item. Other than this matching colour scheme, Ranma liked the bracers and shin guards as useful magical assists. He planned to make each of the bracers and shin guards magical items by infusing them with power later on.  
His black bookbag swung and slapped into his side as he walked, keeping perfect time, as Ranma set his pace so that each little slap meant a second had passed, he used this as a way to count the time, so that he wasn't late!  
He arrived, luckily intact after a little incident with Shampoo and her bike, not to mention the demented 'fiancée' using a certain accursed mallet! He had discovered a small tear in his new shirt, obviously caused by the mallet. The wound was repairable, with a little magic, of course, but it made Ranma madder than he had ever been at Akane! He vowed revenge!  
  
Akane was 'innocently' sitting on her group's lunch bench, talking 'lovingly' of her 'dear' 'fiancée.' With her were her two new best friends, Yiko and Saski, both new to the school that day. Her ex-friends had become sick and tired of Akane prattling on about Ranma's various faults, some real, some not.  
"I hate that sick perverted jerk! He does nothing but cheat on me!" stated Akane, allowing her sick, sad fantasies to take over, as she tended to do, just about every second, 24:7!  
Her two new friends nodded dumbly, they had never heard of Ranma before, never even seen him, so they just took Akane's word for it. Although they had not been to the school for any more than a day, they had lived in Nerima for a week and as such, found Akane's improbable twaddle to be disturbingly possible!  
As Akane prattled on, and on, and on: the two girls developed mental pictures, of Ranma as a person. Both images were, despite minor discrepancies, of a tall, lanky boy with a runny nose and a lascivious stare! You can see how surprised they were when Akane burst out.  
"There, ha, you can see for yourselves how much of a pervert he is! Look over there. Ooh, if you excuse me I have a fiancée to beat up!" she ground out as she looked beyond the two other girl's shoulders.  
She stood up and stomped towards where she was looking. Curious, the two girls turned round and searched for a boy fitting the description of their mental impression! Unsurprisingly, they didn't find him, but they did find a disturbingly handsome boy dressed in black, with black hair and a cocky smile talking amiably to two other boys. One of the boys with a cast on his leg and arm, with a crutch secured under one armpit while they stood, all three with what looked like piles of cards in their hands.  
They watched as Akane walked up towards the handsome black-haired boy, and for no apparent reason, took a mallet out of somewhere and hit him with it, under the chin, sending him flying high into the sky, screaming.  
"What did I do? You Uncute Tomboy!" the scream faded as the distance got longer and he was just a little black dot on the horizon.  
Meanwhile, Akane calmly walked back to the table, only shouting a final stream of abuse as a retort.  
She promptly tucked back into her lunch, ignoring the twin stares from the shocked girls. The girls, once they had shook themselves out of their shock, put their lunches back into their bentos, stood up and walked away from the table.  
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Akane loudly of the two departing girls.  
Yiko shivered, turned around and replied. "You just hit that guy for no reason!"  
"Yeah. If that was Ranma, I pity the poor guy for being engaged to such a b****!" Saski chimed in.  
Both Yiko and Akane stared at Saski, along with others that had overheard her last word. The playground was suddenly quiet, with almost every eye in her direction.  
"Um," stated Saski, embarassed. The entire student body looking at her. "Uh, my mother's a politician!"  
The students and faculty simultaneously let of a loud 'oh' and returned to their business, sparing some sympathetic glances towards Saski.  
"Well, the point is, you can't just hit someone like that and expect to get away with it! Even if that someone, is your fiancée. Saski, your mother's a politician, what's the name for it?" asked Yiko.  
"Uh, don't remind me!" said Saski, with an unhealthy dose of self-loathing, and disgust at her mother's profession. "I think it's called husband beating, if they were married, and abuse if they aren't. I'm not sure if that changes since their engaged!"  
"There!" Yiko said triumphantly. "Saski and I'll go to the police if we see you hitting someone again! I hate people who hit others for fun! You disgust me!" Yiko gave Akane a look that clearly showed her disgust and loathing for the so-called martial artist.  
They made final pitying, or hateful, looks before walking away, in a search for a lunch bench with saner people at it.  
Meanwhile, all Akane could do was smoulder and come to the irrational conclusion that it was all Ranma's fault.  
  
Ranma sneezed as he floated, cross-legged, in a typical wise-man pose, high above the school, enjoying the sight of Akane's rejection. He had loved the way the two girls had showed Akane up, although he felt deep pity for the poor girl. Politician, ugh!  
He loved floating, it always felt nice to get away from the normality of life, and embrace a more unusual and exotic power! Even better, no one could see him; despite he was only twenty feet above the highest point of the school!   
Magic is so cool! He thought strongly, and with passion. Then he thought about Akane, he had vowed revenge, but had what the girls done enough? Na, not even close! He would devise an even worse embarrassment! The only problem, was what kind of prank to pull on her for vengeance to be satisfied?  
He was so deep in though, he didn't notice Akane storm towards a madly flailing and poetry spouting, waste-of-flesh.  
But, then again, was making Akane's life hard, really worth the time that he was losing. His mother's life was still attached firmly to a timer! Wouldn't it be the best thing to make his mother happy, in case the magic didn't work, and besides, wouldn't it be the right thing to do? He let a heavy sigh and answered his own question. Yes!  
It was then that Kuno landed on his head, headfirst, and painfully.   
Ranma was so shocked that he released the invisibility construct, in a wave of palatable mystic energy. He twitched as Kuno shifted from his place on Ranma's head, in a standing position, completely unaware that he was the wrong way up.  
"Truly the Kami have recognised my place among the presence of themselves and the spirits of my ancestors. They must fear the almighty blade of the Blue Thunder..." after that Ranma, and everyone else in hearing distance, ignored him, for fear that it was contagious, and just because it was really, really boring!  
All of the people in the playground, even Akane and her two ex-friends were staring, along with Nabiki, Daisuke, Hiroshi and his other lunch-bearing fiancés, and, of course the rest of the faculty and student body, up at the floating form of Ranma, and the deranged fool on his head.  
Ranma was getting ticked off at the ranting kendoist on his head. He raised a hand in front of him and conjured an amount of Chi and Sa  
He bent the power to his will and generated electrical charge within the magic, until it became one with the Sa. He enhanced the ball of energy with his Chi causing the sphere to flare with static, causing even the about-faced Kuno to feel the hairs of his body rising to the energy  
Ranma smiled and whispered. "Kuno, your going to get a charge out of this!" he laughed evilly, then stopped realising how corny that just sounded, he took a moment to think up a better one. He couldn't! "Well, I guess the old ones are the best," he shrugged. "See ya, Kuno. Banrai Chimanako!"  
The ball of electricity flew upwards and sparked fiercely.  
To Kuno it was below him and therefore he made the unnatural object part of his sad, sad fantasy. "Truly is a gift from the Kami. I shall let myself receive you and make me a Kami!"  
The ball of energy was not amused at the boy's aspirations of godliness. It decided to show him why it was call Heavy Thunder Frenzy. Sparks along its surface collected and flew from the main body of energy. It sent its lightening bolt towards Kuno, pushing him off Ranma's head and towards the ground.  
However, despite Ranma being very confident in the power of the attack, he too, caught a great deal of the static charge as Kuno fell. The shock of the electricity put Ranma off-guard as Kuno attempted to reach for something solid. One of his flailing hands slapped Ranma on the head, with a meaty chunk.  
Now, Ranma has tolerances, just like everyone else, and although he is, or all intents and purposes, superhuman, he can be affected by certain blows, particularly to the head, in this case, the affect was strong enough to make him lose concentration and let gravity take hold.  
Both martial artists, one very good, the other pitifully bad, fell towards the ground. Kuno landed on his back, and passed out with, thankfully, only one verse of badly written poetry, Ranma however, did not hit the ground. Halfway down, Ranma spread his arms out wide, and seemed to float away from the ground. He landed safely down on the tarmac, feet-first.  
He turned round with a feeling of foreboding. He saw the assembled crowd of pupils and faculty staring at him.  
He was also at a loss for words, until Kuno spoke up, as he shakily stood from his landing pad.  
"Thou evil and vile sorcerer agent of the devil, took from thy the rightful power of the Kami. I challenge thee to reveal thee hideous powers, reveal your form foul cretin, reveal, and return my Kami-hood!" Kuno was in rare form as he ranted at Ranma.  
Ranma smirked as he saw a way in which to reveal his powers in perhaps the most positive, or at least, dramatic, way he could. Follow Kuno's lead and then no one will believe it.  
Ranma coughed lightly into his hand and mentally prepared himself. He spoke like a character from one of Shakespeare's plays. "Yay, good warrior, it was I, before you, who stole the power of the Kami from thee. A challenge reaches my ears from your noble tongue, perchance it is fortunate that we may do the act here, in this place and time, in front of our audience, and show our prowess!"  
The entire assembled crowd, including Kuno, blinked.  
Ranma sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and translated to the crowd. "Yeah, I took it, so what! You want to fight?"  
Kuno steeled his face upon hearing this, and replied. "Yay I shall fight thee now. Use none of your evil skills!" he warned.  
"But, surely good warrior, the power of magic is nothing in the face of a noble heart?" Ranma asked, smirking.  
Kuno was at a loss, unsure how to react. "Well... Um... Yay, a noble heart such as mine shall negate any foulness that you can wield."  
"Alright, then let's fight!" stated Ranma as he lifted on of his hand, with the index finger extended.  
"Yes, let us!" confirmed Kuno as he placed himself in an aggressive stance. He pushed off from the tarmac and flew towards Ranma.  
"Sorry, Kuno, not today, and not ever!" stated Ranma, almost pityingly, looking at Kuno. "Here is my attack, Ryu..."  
Kuno screamed and increased his speed, wailing his battle cry.  
"... Mei..." Ranma continued, his voice deepening, unnaturally.  
Kuno was only a few feet away, still screaming determinedly, and in vain.  
"... Ka!" finished Ranma, a wall of red flame appearing in front of him, quickly speeding forth to engulf the approaching boy.  
Kuno screamed in anger and defeat as the Dragon King Fire came at him, like a wave of flame. It's scorching touch washed over him, revealing to him, a world of pain, for only a moment, as it died like an ember on top of the hearth. The boy fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings' cut.  
Ranma turned to the crowd, scratched the base of his pigtail with one hand, and smiling said, "Heh, heh. New technique, cool, huh!"  
The sense of relief washed through the crowd, many releasing, deep, sighs and went around their business.  
Ranma quietly sweatdropped as he saw everyone accept his barely there explanation. "Only in Nerima," he muttered in bemused puzzlement as he walked away, towards his next class, despite being early.  
"Ugh," groaned Kuno as Ranma and many other people walked over him, barely noticing his presence. It was just not his day!  
  
Ranma walked to a secluded and deserted classroom, deep in thought about the weirdness of Nerima, not noticing the creeping figure that followed him. He did not even noticed when a second figure joined her and was rudely shushed for making too much noise.  
Ranma slid open the door to the classroom, and slipped inside, still deep in thought.  
The two figures followed and peered through a small window, set into the door itself. Usagi and Rei had plenty of light to see what was occurring inside, and should have been content, but none-the-less Usagi still received a jab in the ribs from Rei for breathing too hard.  
  
Ranma took a deep breath and purged his mind of that fool, Kuno. He was feeling a little flustered after the close call of the discovery of his powers, but agreed with the nagging voice in his head that told him that it was his own fault.  
While he was talking to Dasuke and Hiroshi, he came to the conclusion that he had been unfair in just suddenly disappearing from Yugi's universe. It might be best, he thought now that he finished berating himself about his loss of self-control, to go back and help his new friends with Pegasus.  
Ranma, being the spontaneous person that he is, hummed with his hands cupped, framing a reappearing shape. Ranma smiled when his Item was fully revealed, and readied it's power.  
  
Rei gasped and hissed to Usagi, "That's the Millennium Item, Setsuna's been going on about! If we get it, we don't have to fight him any more!"  
"Really?" Usagi was doubtful. "It isn't this easy!" she stated, worried.   
"Oh, don't be a coward, come on!" spat Rei.  
  
Ranma had already triggered his teleport ability and was just about to disappear in a flash, when two short-skirted magical girls barged in and screamed their attacks.   
"Moon Therapy Kiss!" screamed the blonde, as the black-haired girl screeched, "Mars Flare Sniper!"  
Both attacks hit his just as the light enveloped him. The fire attack flew past, unnoticed, while the white-magic attack rammed in to Ranma with incredible force.  
Then all Ranma knew was black. 


End file.
